Filipina maid captures dreams through photography

Yahoo - AFP, Aaron Tam, March 22, 2015

Filipino photographer Xyza Cruz Bacani poses with her work in Macau on

March 21, 2015 (AFP Photo/Aaron Tam)

Hong Kong (AFP) - From her poverty-stricken roots in a Philippine backwater, via domestic service in Hong Kong to acclaim in New York, Xyza Cruz Bacani's inspirational journey started with a camera bought with borrowed money.

The 28-year-old came to Hong Kong nine years ago to join 300,000 other women working as maids in the city, hoping to earn enough money to help fund her brother's education.

But photography has transformed her life, her images of everything from trips to the supermarket to scenes of abuse at a refuge for domestic workers earning laudatory spreads in international media and at exhibitions.

Bacani was recently named as one of the recipients of a fellowship by the Magnum Foundation, a prestigious scholarship that will allow her to study in New York for six weeks.

Filipino photographer Xyza Cruz Bacani

 poses with her work in Macau on March

21, 2015 (AFP Photo/Aaron Tam)

With that in mind, just a week ago, she quit domestic service to pursue her passion for photography. But when she first came to Hong Kong, survival was her first priority.

"The urge to survive is much bigger than the urge to do art," she told AFP in Macau where her photographs are on show as part of the city's Literary Festival.

A self-professed dreamer, she said she also saw the move to Hong Kong as an opportunity to leave her home village, nine hours' drive from the Philippine capital Manila.

"It was a big contrast when I arrived at the airport, I was very excited because everything is moving fast, and the lights are wonderful, it looks so alive compared to my village," she said.

Her passion for photography really took off four years ago, when her employer -- whom she describes as a "great lady" -- lent her the money to buy her first camera, a Nikon D90.

"When I had (the camera), I shot landscapes to flowers to (portraits of) my mom, and then I did street photography."

From that point on Bacani took photographs at every opportunity she had, whether out buying daily produce for her employer or ranging across Hong Kong on Sundays off work.

At first she only shared her pictures with friends on Facebook -- mostly shot in grainy black and white, capturing street moments in classic reportage style.

A Filipino photographer based in San Francisco saw them on Facebook and was intrigued by their originality and quality. From there she came to the attention of the New York Times Lens blog and then of acclaimed photographer Sebastiao Salgado, who praised her work at an exhibition in Hong Kong late last year.

Reflecting on her journey thus far, she marvels: "Right now it's changed my life 180 degrees, here I am having a show in Macau, going to places."

A voice for the unheard

With increasing concerns over the treatment of domestic helpers in Hong Kong and the region, Bacani is now turning to documentary photography to try to draw attention to abuses.

"That's what I want my photography to do, to be able to help people ... to me photography is a very powerful tool to change someone's perspective towards an issue," she said.

In the summer of 2014, Bacani documented migrant workers who had taken shelter at a refuge after suffering abuse at the hands of their employers, an experience she described as "life-changing".

"I was angry at first, it was a roller-coaster of emotion when I saw this kind of situation.

"I think I was there to be the voice of those domestic workers who remain unheard, whose voices have been muted."

Just last month a judge sentenced a Hong Kong woman to six years in jail for beating and starving her Indonesian maid in a case that made global headlines.

Bacani's own employer could not be more different, she says, offering support and encouragement to pursue her plans of becoming a photographer full-time.

"She said my domestic worker duties... are restricting me from growing up as a person, it's a chain that holds me," Bacani said, after stopping her domestic work last week.

Bacani's story has inspired many other helpers in the city, and she is urging them to pursue their dreams too.

"They keep on telling me... now that they've seen me, I made them realise that it's possible to do the things that you really want to do outside your job.

"I want people to see that your job, your work, it doesn't define who you are," she added.

"The dreams that I had when I was young, I'm having them now."

Indonesian Photographer Among Winners of World Press Photo Awards

Jakarta Globe, February 15, 2013

Jakarta Globe photographer Ali Lutfi wins second prize in the Nature category

 of the 56th World Press Photo Contest, the winners of which were announced

 on Friday. The photo, titled ‘Mimin,’ shows a monkey named Mimin wearing

 a mask made from a doll’s head. Mimin is among monkeys trained to entertain

 motorists at busy intersections in the Central Java town of Solo. (JG Photo/

Ali Lutfi)            

     

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A Jakarta Globe contributor, photographer Ali Lutfi, is one of 54 winners of the 56th World Press Photo Contest, the organizers announced on their website on Friday.

Ali, a photographer based in Solo, Central Java, won second prize singles in the Nature category for his picture entitled “Mimin.”

The picture, taken in Solo on Dec. 5, 2012, depicts Mimin, a trained performing monkey, wearing a mask as part of its routine to entertain motorists at busy intersections in the Central Java city.

The international jury selected a picture by Paul Hansen from Sweden as the World Press Photo of the Year 2012.

Hansen’s “Gaza Burial” shows a crowd on its way to a mosque for the burial of two infants killed in an Israeli missile strike. Two men at the head of the crowd carry their bodies, with the children’s father trailing behind, after their house was destroyed by the missile in Gaza City in November last year.

The photo contest featured nine categories, namely General News, Spot News, Contemporary Issues, Daily Life, Observed People Portraits, Staged People Portraits, Nature, Sports Action and Sports Features.

The 54 winners were selected from more than 100,000 images submitted for the contest by 5,666 photographers from 124 nationalities, the organizers said.

The awards will be presented in Amsterdam in a ceremony on April 21.

Related Articles:

Street raiders pounce to end Jakarta's monkey business (Video)

Gaza burial of two children is World Press Photo of the Year

Gaza Burial by Paul Hansen

Indonesian Snaps Up Top National Geographic Photography Award

Jakarta Globe, December 20, 2011

Indonesian photographer Shikhei Goh has won the prestigious 2011
 National Geographic Photography Contest with a spectacular image
of a dragonfly in the rain in Riau. (National Geographic Photo/Shikhei Goh)

               

Indonesian photographer Shikhei Goh has won the prestigious 2011 National Geographic Photography Contest with a spectacular image of a dragonfly in the rain in Riau.

According to reports, Goh will receive $10,000 and have his winning image published in the international edition of National Geographic magazine.

Goh, who won the grand prize as well as nature categories, beat out more than 20,000 other photographs submitted by amateur and professional photographers from more than 130 countries.

In a photo caption credited to Goh, the Indonesian wrote that he was out taking photographs of insects, “as I normally did during macro photo hunting.”

“I wasn’t actually aware of this dragonfly since I was occupied with other objects. When I was about to take a picture of it, it suddenly rained, but the lighting was just superb. I decided to take the shot regardless of the rain. The result caused me to be overjoyed, and I hope it pleases viewers.”

Tim Laman, one of three National Geographic magazine photographers who judged the contest, described the photograph to nationalgeographic.com as a “very striking macrophotography image that rose to the top of the nature category for me because of its originality, beautiful light, rare action in a close-up image, as well as its technical perfection.”

Disasters, Triumphs and Everyday Life: 2009 Through the Lenses of Jakarta Globe Photographers

The Jakarta Globe

Christians prayed and cried in front of a Mary statue still standing among the ruins of a Padang Catholic church damaged by the 7.6 earthquake that rocked the region in October. (JG Photo/Safir Makki)

The Jakarta Globe's staff photographers are always on the frontline of the news and in the past year they have covered everything from disasters and sporting triumphs to everyday life in the capital.

Jurnasyanto Sukarno, Afriadi Hikmal, Yudhi Sukma Wijaya and Safir Makki have picked some of their favorite images of the year for this online gallery.

View the gallery here

Meet the photographers

Safir Makki

Jakarta Globe photographer Safir Makki sees his photos as a way of informing the public about injustice in society. His photos, often shot from unusual angles, tell human stories of struggle and sacrifice, hope and charity.

Safir studied at the Indonesian Institute of the Arts in Yogyakarta. He was a finalist this year in the prestigous Anugerah Adiwarta Sampoerna journalism awards in two categories for best news photographs, business and the economy, and law.

Yudhi Sukma Wijaya

My name is Yudhi Sukma Wijaya. During the past year, I have worked as a photographer for the Jakarta Globe, using my images to help tell the story of a myriad of political, social, cultural, economic and legal events. Each of my photos presented its own challenges and obstacles, from dealing with government or corporate bureaucracy to obtain a single shot, to waiting for hours to capture one perfect moment.

This year, two of my photos won Anugerah Adiwarta Sampoerna awards, one for best political news photograph and another for best arts and culture photograph. I hope the year ahead brings more opportunities for me to capture important images for Globe readers, and to immortalize the stories of our time for future generations.

Jurnasyanto Sukarno

As a photojournalist, each day is different, and I always have to prepare for the worst. I may be at a political event, full of rules and bureaucracy, and suddenly a natural disaster calls me elsewhere. The most important aspect of my job is timing — I have to get to the field in time, otherwise I’ll miss the news. I can’t do much from behind a desk.

During my year with the Jakarta Globe, I’ve covered major events, like the presidential election, the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton bombings, the Situ Gintung dam disaster, the terrorist raid in Tangerang and the 25th SEA Games in Vientiane, Laos.

Afriadi Hikmal

There is always something worth photographing, even a moment of rage or loss is a fragment of human life. Capturing each fragment in pictures will tell a story — and the best story-telling technique is to tell things honestly and objectively.

This year, Afriadi Hikmal has won many awards for his work, including second place in the Photo Essay category of the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand Photojournalism Contest, for his story about children with cerebral palsy. He also came first in the Nature category of a National Geographic Indonesia contest, and won first prize for photography in a competition focusing on reporting labor issues, organized by The Alliance of Independent Journalists Indonesia.

Film festival shines a bright light on city's dirty problems

A. Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A number of non-governmental environmental organizations will hold the South to South Film Festival 2008 at the Goethe Institute in Central Jakarta from Jan. 25 to Jan. 27.

The festival, which has been organized by the Jatam mining advocacy network, the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) and Forest Watch, will screen 16 documentary films from 11 countries, including Indonesia, Guatemala, India, the Philippines, Malaysia, the Czech Republic and Australia.

"The festival is aimed at raising public awareness on the environmental damage here. We hope many people will come to the free festival," Jatam coordinator Siti Maimunah told a press conference here Tuesday.

Maimunah said most of the films in the festival, which is titled "Vote for Life", come from developing countries with rich natural resources, but where many people live in poverty.

Walhi chairman Chalid Muhammad said the festival's theme came out of the idea that environmental issues could not be separated from legal and political aspects.

"So, the festival also aims to ask people to vote for leaders who have great concern for the environment in next year's general elections," Chalid said in the conference.

Meanwhile, film director Rizki Rinanto Sigit, whose film Teluk Jakarta Under Pressure will be screened at the festival, welcomed the event, saying that many documentary filmmakers needed a special arena to show their work.

"There are many documentary filmmakers, but we have a limited place to show our work. So the festival is very good for us," Sigit said at the conference.

He said his film was about the damage done to Jakarta by garbage and the city's poor planning system.

He said the public could also learn how to make a documentary as the festival would organize a discussion with filmmakers, including Mira Lesmana and Javari Firdaus, at the Goethe Institute on Jan. 26 and Jan 27.

Malaysian director Hilary Chiew is scheduled to attend the discussions to speak about her film Penusa Tana (The Forgotten Struggle).

Besides the discussions, the festival will hold a photo exhibition which will display pictures of environmental damage in developing countries.

Exhibition gives light to works of unknown colonial photographer

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The old black-and-white pictures of life in the Dutch Indies on show at Erasmus Huis gallery were once education materials for school children in the Netherlands.

The photographs, called schoolplaten or school plates, gave pupils in the Netherlands a glimpse of life as it was far away in Borneo, Papua, Sumatra, Java and other areas across the vast Dutch territory.

The photos today are part of an exhibition called "Through the Eyes of the Past", and they give visitor's a glimpse of what happened long ago in this country.

Curator Firman Ichsan categorized 150 pictures into several groups including transportation; education; industry, agriculture and mining; towns and settlements; and people.

Most of the works, however, include people. Some of them were obviously posing for the shot, but some photographs are candid, like the portrait of men playing cards.

In the gallery on Jl. Rasuna Said in South Jakarta, Firman arranged the pictures so viewers can comfortably see the photos according to theme.

These pictures do not give credit to the photographer -- only the name of the publisher of the pictures, Kleynenberg in Haarlem, and the year of publication, 1913, is included.

Firman said it is believed all the pictures published by Kleynenberg in 1913 were the works of Jean Demmeni, the son of a royal Dutch soldier of French descent.

In his explanatory notes around the exhibition, Firman says it was a Dutch antiquities collector, Leo Haks, who first investigated in 1984 the photographer who shot the pictures he bought from an antique bookshop.

Some of the shots are known among collectors. His search found an answer at Museum of Cultural Anthropology in Leiden, the Netherlands.

"Jean Demmeni was relatively unknown compared to other colonial time photographers like Woodburry and Page, for example," Firman said.

"His works were relatively more renowned than his name."

Later Haks, with Paul Sach, wrote about Demmeni in a book titled Indonesia Images from the Past published in 1987 by Times.

Haks's collection changed hands and now it belongs to avid collector Hauw Ming, who calls his collection of art works, old watches and photographs the "Kartini Collection".

After a discussion with Erasmus Huis's director, Hauw Ming agreed to put the collection on loan for public viewing.

Through the Eyes of the Past:

Jan. 18 to Feb. 22, 2008

Erasmus Huis
Jl. Rasuna Said Kav. S-3
South Jakarta

Greenpeace to camp in Monas park

JAKARTA (The Jakarta Post) : Greenpeace will launch the Forest Defenders Camp Satellite Station (FDCSS) at Monas Park in Jakarta on Saturday, the organization said Friday.

The FDCSS will showcase the beauty and destruction of the pristine rain forests of Indonesia, highlighting their impacts on biodiversity and climate in an exhibit of photos, cultural performances, lectures and short films.

The event will disseminate information compiled by Greenpeace's Forest Defenders Camp in Riau, stationed near a peatland forest cleared for palm oil plantations, and support the organization's campaign to include deforestation talks in the next phase of the Kyoto agreement.

With support from the Jakarta administration, the event will feature local artists and musicians from Nov. 3 to 11.

Visitors will get an opportunity to send messages of support to Greenpeace volunteers and the community of Kuala Cenaku in Riau, and to sign up to send environmental messages to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Forestry Minister MS Kaban.

Nusantara arts expo being held in Jakarta

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - A total of 81 Indonesian artists from 21 regions are displaying their works of arts at "The Nusantara Arts Exhibition" being held at the Indonesian National Gallery (GNI) here, from July 11 to 27, 2007.

The works of arts being displayed include paintings, statues, sculptures, photos, and videos.

Of the total 81 artists, some 70 percent of them are young and talented artists capable of producing original works of arts.

A seminar discussing the Indonesian arts would be held on July 12 and 13, as part of the expo`s activities.

'Tempo Doeloe' photos trace city history

SEMARANG (The Jakarta Post) : The history of Semarang was vividly portrayed in Semarang Tempo Doeloe, a photographic exhibit on the city's olden days that was displayed at the Town Hall from May 21-23.

Those who were unable to view the show may still be able to obtain exhibition catalogs filled with pictures of the city in a bygone era.

Exhibition committee chairman M. Maulana Fahmi said the event was held to coincide with the Central Java capital's 460th anniversary.

"We cooperated with the Seputar Semarang daily, the Semarang municipal administration and the Central Java Regional Archives Office" for the exhibit, he said.

Official records indicate that Semarang is mentioned in the accounts of Dutch historians H.J. de Graaf and Th. Pigeaud. The historians pointed out that before Dutch colonial rule, Semarang was already a crossroads of different cultures and civilizations.

Some pictures were portraits of Semarang's noted citizens and others traced the architectural history of the capital.

The photo of the provincial governor's office, for instance, reveals that in 1956, the building was located on Jl. Oei Tiong Ham (now Jl. Pahlawan), named after a Dutch-era business tycoon. Another street called Oei Tiong Bing Weg (street), is now Jl. Sultan Agung.

Aerial photos showed the Djoernatan area with its Semarang River and city tramway, the Kota Lama -- or "Old Town" -- area in 1948 with a Sleko gas plant, and Semarang town square in its original state.

Apart from buildings and public facilities, the pictures also revealed the earliest conditions of Semarang's markets and other economic activities, art and cultural centers, prisoners' camps and night fairs. -- JP/Suherdjoko

Bogor Botanical Gardens will commemorate its 190th anniversary

The Jakarta Post

BOGOR, West Java (Antara): Historical Bogor Botanical Gardens Friday will commemorate their 190th anniversary by organizing a number of events including flora exhibition, photographic competitions, and seminars.

Flora exhibitions in the gardens would have taken place from May 17 to 27. "Some 70 participants take parts in the event," Gardens spokesperson Sugiarti was quoted by Antara news agency as saying Thursday.

In trying to attract as many people as possible, she added, one ticket for the gardens could be used for two visitors, but the special offer is not valid on Saturday and Sunday.

Those who take part in the exhibition include non-governmental organizations, individual environment lovers, researchers, and private companies.

The gardens are located 60 kilometers south of Jakarta. It is situated in the city center of Bogor and adjoin the Istana Bogor (Presidential Palace). The gardens cover more than 80 hectares and contain more than 15,000 species of trees and plants located among streams and lotus ponds.

The gardens established by Sir Stamford Raffles officially opened in 1817 and were used to research and develop plants and seeds from other parts of the Indonesian archipelago for cultivation during the 19th century.

Semarang to revive former glory

Suherdjoko, The Jakarta Post, Semarang

Once upon a time, when Indonesia was still ruled by the Dutch, Semarang, the capital of Central Java, was host to an event of international standards.

In 1914 and long before the country gained independence, the city showcased artworks from all over the globe, comprising carvings, silverware, bronze statues, gold jewelry and handicrafts.

More than 200 large and small buildings sitting on 17.7-hectares of picture-perfect rolling hills and eye-catching lowlands were used to exhibit some of these never-before-seen pieces of art.

So Mayor Sukawi Sutarip, Semarang's current mayor, is today looking forward to reviving the grand international fair as he prepares his city to celebrate its 460th birthday -- along with the start of a new tourism program that should see the city restored to its former glory.

The entire municipality is making efforts to transform Sumarang's Kota Lama (Old City) into a clean, beautiful and peaceful area representative of a Dutch colonial town of yesteryear.

"Other cities -- like Jakarta, Medan, Surabaya and Yogyakarta, refurbished themselves years ago -- so Semarang must not be left behind," said Sukawi last week during the launch the city's 460th anniversary, The Beauty of Asia tourism program and a celebrationary art exhibition.

"Let's turn Semarang into a beautiful, peaceful and clean city to attract visitors from all around the region.

"Let them feel at home by presenting them with arts and culture and business opportunities."

Sukawi said the peak of the program would take place from August 10 to 12, when organizers would hold a number of events, including Asian arts and cultural performances, sports competitions, tourism exhibitions and international seminars.

Organizers will build a giant stage measuring 50x60 meters and equipped with a modern lighting system, at the Pancasila Square, in the Simpang Lima area in the heart of the city.

The stage will host various performances involving 10 ASEAN member countries as well as China, Japan, Korea, India and Saudi Arabia.

The spectacular event, called Breaking Through Cultural Limits, will include hundreds of dancers and musicians.

The municipality will set aside a large budget for the event and it is expected it will become an annual tradition.

A city official reported the city needed around Rp 21 billion (US$2.3 million) and supporting funds of Rp 3 billion.

A number of venues in Semarang will stage live performances, including the Simpanglima Square, the Tugu Muda monument, the historical Lawang Sewu building, the PRPP Development Promotion Fairgrounds, the Central Java Grand Mosque and the Sam Poo Kong Temple in Gedung Batu.

"We have procured a 15-hectare plot of land to focus activities for the Semarang Beauty of Asia exhibition in 2008," Sukawi said.

"We will build a grand building to house arts performances there ... and the site is located in Gunungpati, a hilly area with a cool climate, southwest of Semarang,"

So while the city administration counts its rupiah in the lead-up to the inaugural event, trash bins are being attractively painted with animals, plants and shadow-play characters and the streets are being fastidiously cleaned.

The municipality was also more than anxious to evict squatters who occupied old buildings in the slum area in Kota Lama (Old City) three months ago.

And the area adjacent to the Tawang railway station, notorious for its red-light district, will soon be rid of its lower class sex workers.

Sukawi said President Soesilo Bambang Yudhoyono will kick off the event and it will be attended by foreign ministers from 11 Asian countries as well as foreign ambassadors and mayors from across the country.

The idea of staging the Semarang Beauty of Asia event came up during an official tour with the President to the China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning, China, at the end of 2006, said Sukawi.

The next step was to foster public participation before gathering subdistrict heads in Semarang and urging them to familiarize the public on the event.

Suakwi then floated the idea of homestays -- so that foreign visitors could stay in residents' homes and experience the lives of the local people.

Residents in Central Semarang district are considering the idea -- but even if this doesn't work, there are 35 star-rated, modest hotels in the district employing 698 of the city's workforce.

The Kauman area and its surroundings will be prioritized for visitors from Muslim countries, including Malaysia, Brunei and Middle-Eastern countries, while Semarang's Chinatown area for visitors from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Japan.

Festival of French art, culture held in Yogyakarta

Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

The organization of the two-month Printemps Francais (French Spring) festival, to be held over May and June, is currently underway here under the guidance of the CCF Yogyakarta French cultural center.

Held poolside at the Novotel Yogyakarta, the opening of the festival was marked Wednesday with a fashion show by noted designer Ramadhani A Kadir. The event also marked the opening of a fashion photography exhibition presenting the works of French photographer Wilfrid Rouff.

"CCF Yogyakarta is very proud to have the honor of being the first to exhibit the fashion photos here in Indonesia," said Marie Le Sourd, director of CCF Yogyakarta, in her opening remarks.

Forty-five photographs depicting the latest developments in French contemporary fashion are on exhibition in the hotel's lobby from May 3 to May 15. The photos will then move on to Bandung, Surabaya and Jakarta for parallel exhibitions.

"This is the first program to open in Indonesia for the start of the Printemps Francais 2007 festival, which is a festival of French contemporary arts and culture," Le Sourd said.

The event forms part of a larger celebration entitled Printemps Francais in Asia, which is being organized in a number of Asian countries by respective French cultural centers throughout the region.

"The first Printemps Francais was held 15 years ago in Hong Kong. Now we have it held in many other Asian countries including China, Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Korea, Laos, Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Singapore and of course Indonesia," she said.

Although the festival's name varies from country to country, the central theme of the annual event remains the same: To present French art and culture to Asian audiences.

"Through the festival, we basically want to democratize art and culture. And we do so by collaborating with local artists and institutions," Le Sourd said.

This year's is the third Printemps Francais festival to be held in Yogyakarta. Apart from the fashion show and the photo exhibition, a number of complementary programs have also been prepared for the event.

These will include a French contemporary shadow-puppet show, titled C'koi centre etoile?, performed by Compagnie Ckoi ce cirk? on May 26 and May 27 at CCF Yogyakarta's auditorium and also in villages in Bantul, many of which were badly damaged by the devastating May 27, 2006, earthquake.

Other items on the program include an electronic music performance by French DJ Missill on June 11, a contemporary circus performance by Compagnie 9.81 on June 17, a scientific exhibition addressing water from May 10 to May 20, a discussion of water on May 11 and a mass cleaning of Yogyakarta's rivers on May 13.

"We will also have a music party on June 21 here at CCF to participate from a distance in the same event we have every year on the same date in France, during which all kinds of music, ranging from classical to contemporary, is played all across the country," Le Sourd said.

She said that in order to create a nuance that resembles the vibrancy of the annual music party in France, CCF Yogyakarta also plans to hold music performances in several locations near to CCF Yogyakarta's office in Sagan on June 23.

"We deliberately chose June 23, which is a Saturday, instead of June 21 ... to allow more people to come and enjoy the music," Le Sourd said, adding that various music genres, including classical, jazz and others, would be played during the event.

Meutia launches pictorial book on national diversity

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

An emulation of foreign cultures is not necessary for Indonesia to promote tourism to the archipelago, said Women's Empowerment Minister Meutia Farida Hatta Swasono while discussing her new book which promotes the richness of Indonesian cultures.

"We have the living matrilineal culture of Minangkabau in West Sumatra, we have some living megalithic cultures in Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara, and the funeral traditions of Toraja in South Sulawesi. These are assets that we need to respect and watch over," Meutia said Saturday.

"I want to convey a message through this book that the young generation should love our motherland, which is very rich with good values such as a sense of togetherness, time valuation, respect for elders and a work ethic. However, these values rarely prevail now."

Meutia was speaking at the launch of her book, titled: Jejak Langkah di Negeriku, Perjalananku dan Mereka Yang Cemerlang Selama Enam Dasawarsa (Footsteps in My Motherland, My Journey and Those Who Shine in Six Decade).

She said Indonesia's cultural, religious and ecological richness should become a central feature of the country's nationalism, which she said was integral in the midst of rapid development.

"The most important thing is to make sure our generation maintains a territorial awareness."

Meutia's book addresses a variety of topics, such as her experiences visiting various parts of the country when her father Muhammad Hatta was the first Indonesian vice president, and her experience as an anthropologist and researcher.

Saturated with numerous photographs taken by Meutia during these visits, the book was written in the popular language so as to reach as many readers as possible.

Meutia said the book centered on her life experiences with her family and relatives and her experiences during her work.

"Some people might say my book is like candy because it is full of pictures and colors, but it is the portrait of our nation and culture, so diversified and rich," she said.

"Every ethnicity and culture has its own color preference and this is unique, because it tells so many things."

Meutia was born in Yogyakarta on March 21, 1947, and was the first daughter of Hatta, the co-proclamator of the Republic of Indonesia. She earned her undergraduate, master's and doctoral degrees in anthropology at the University of Indonesia in 1974, 1983 and 1991 respectively.

She is married to Sri Edi Swasono and has two children, the late Sri Juwita Hanum and Tan Sri Zulfikar Swasono.

Her book launching was attended by several public figures, including Yogyakarta Governor Sultan Hamengkubowono X and artists Titiek Puspa and Deddy Mizwar.