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Mosaic of the Archipelago presents information on government of Banda Aceh city holds various fun competitions. The second information is that Ki Hajar Dewantara and Dewi Sartika participate in ceremony of National Education Day in Surabaya. We end Mosaic of the Archipelago with the news on various cultures are performed to enliven National Education Day at the border of Atambua Belu.

To enliven the 813th Banda Aceh anniversary, the government of Banda Aceh city held various fun competitions on Tuesday (1/5). The participants consisted of government’s employees and families, as well as the general public. The competitions were coloring contest, stringing betel, decorating lamp, until umbrella held at city’s hall garden. Various kinds of kids’ play grounds were also provided. In his speech, Banda Aceh  Mayor, Aminullah Usman said that besides to enlivening the city’s anniversary, the event was also to strengthen bonds of friendship among government’s employees and residents. The Mayor added that his office also has held great Zikir, dalail khairat contest, football, tennis and volleyball tournament and various activities which involved the general public. On the occasion, Mayor Aminullah  including his Deputy Mayor, Zainal Arifin, and regional secretary also handed over compensation packages to children with disabilities. The commemoration of National Education Day in Surabaya was conducted with different ways. To remember the teaching of master education, Ki Hajar Dewantara, hundreds of students and teachers of Great Crystal School and Course Center wore hats with photographs of Ki Hajar Dewantara  on ceremony of education day on May 2. Besides, the students also wore hats with photographs of Dewi Sartika,  heroine of education for woman. The two heroes were selected because they became initiators of father and mother of education in Indonesia. ‎at the ceremony, Indyah, former teacher of Gunungsari elementary school had an opportunity to become ceremonial leader. On the same occasion, Indyah also received special award from Great Crystal School and Course Center as woman who has devoted herself as educator for 38 years.  The school also held a series of events, such as decorating park competition, coloring contest and Learning Media Innovation Competition for teachers. Mifta Churohman as Deputy Head of School said that the event had a theme ‘Appreciate the services of teachers and work for the education of Indonesia”. To commemorate National Education Day at the border of Atambua, Belu regency, regional government through Education and Culture Office held a number of cultural events. Head of the office, Belu, Marsianus Loe Mau said in Atambua on Wednesday (2/5) that the commemoration with cultural nuance became one of the regional government efforts to educate present generation to more understand their identities. According to Marsianus, the commemoration of National Education Day was colored with cultural events, as an important message, to disenchant and to remind all national stakeholders in a bid to get to know what actually owned as an Indonesian at the border of Belu is. He further said that all parties must not lose identity.

The song 'Hasrat dan Cita' by Andi Meriem was composed by an Indonesian musician, Fariz RM. The song contained in the album entitled "Lembah Biru" was released in 1979. This song tells about the relationship between human and God Almighty. Andi Meriem Mattalatta was born with the full name Andi Sitti Meriem Nurul Kusumawardhani Mattalatta. The female singer is better known with her popular name Andi Meriem Mattalatta. She was also known with the nickname "Mutiara Dari Selatan” or “Pearl from the South". The nickname was firstly given by Iskandar, a composer or musician who composed a song especially for Andi Meriem with the same title, Mutiara Dari Selatan. Andi Meriem started singing from an early age. In 1970, she grabbed the first winner in the pop singing contest in Ujung Pandang or Makassar, South Sulawesi. Afterwards in 1973, she followed a similar event but it was at the national level. In the event, she managed to become the 10th finalist of pop singer in Indonesia.

The nuance of rural area where only  torch lighting is available, and there is no television but the people can access internet. Farmers plow the rice field by using buffalo, birdsong, adding peaceful atmosphere in the morning. The atmosphere will be obtained at Kampung Djowo located in Dukuh Sekatul, Margosari Village, Limbangan sub-district, Kendal regency, Central Java. Kampung Djowo is a tourist object with an area reaching ​​about 12 hectares and located at the foot of Mount Ungaran. The tourist object has a beautiful natural panorama with cool Medini hills and the stretching of tea garden around Kampung Djowo Sekatul.

To get to Kampung Djowo Sekatul, it can be taken 30 minutes by private vehicle or approximately 60 minutes by public transportation, both from Semarang and Ungaran. From Kendal, the object can be accessed through Kaliwungu also approximately 30 minutes by private vihecles. With an entrance fee of only Rp2,000 for students and Rp3,000 for public. The visitors can see the six big joglo house and the antique goods in it. Starting from trinkets, ornaments, carvings as well as classical Javanese furnitures are well maintained neatly. The Javanese nuances can feel more if you spend the night in Kampung Djowo. No mercury lights and you have to forget the television programs a moment. However, there are several hot spot to access the internet.

In addition to offering the uniqueness of classical buildings and all types of Javanese atmosphere, Kampung Djowo Sekatul also offers an interesting agro tourism village. Paddy fields, medicinal plants cultivation, ornamental flowers, vanilla plantations and fresh strawberries that can be picked directly, fruit cultivation and fishing arena can be found in Kampung Djowo Sekatul. For educational tour it is offered a package of making process of brown sugar, tofu and tempe. Kampung Djowo Sekatul also features camping facilities and garden party facilities. The area not just presents a uniqueness of Joglo Classic and still maintained its authenticity. The existence of Kampung Djowo is also a proof of the loyalty of the owner, KPH Herry Djojonegoro to the history and efforts to preserving Javanese culture.

Welcome back in Book and Film Review where we will review Indonesian books and films.

We will review an Indonesian novel entitled "Laut Bercerita" or in English "Laut Storytelling" written by Leila S. Chudori. Leila has been well-known for her short stories, novels, and TV drama scripts. She began her career in literature since she was young. Most of her works are about honesty, belief, determination, principle, and sacrifice. Leila had a scholarship in Lester B. Pearson College of the Pacific (United World Colleges) in Victoria, Canada. In Canada, she graduated from Political Science and Comparative Development Studies at Trent University.

Since 1989, Leila has been a journalist of Tempo news magazine. The early works of Leila had been written when she was 12 and were published in Si Kuncung, Kawanku, and Hai. In 2009, Leila S. Chudori launched her newest anthology entitled "9 dari Nadira" which was seen by literature critics as a novel and a book entitled "Malam terakhir" by Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia publisher, which was said by Kompas daily as "the return of Indonesian literature's golden child". Later in December 2011, Leila was invited to the Asia Pacific Literary Symposium in Perth; Winternachten Literary Festival by Writers Unlimited in The Hague in 2012; and Leila Chudori Soiree Literature Event held by Indonesia-France Association in Paris also in 2012.

The novel "Laut Bercerita" is about a family who lost, friends who feel empty, a group who favors torture and betrayal, some families who look for the graves of their children, and about an eternal love. This book is also telling about how some students who were involved in the reformation vanished one by one.    

In an evening, at a flat in Jakarta, a student named Biru Laut was arrested by four unknown men. Along with Daniel Tumbuan, Sunu Dyantoro, and Alex Perazon, he was brought to an unknown place. For months, they were locked up, interrogated, hit, kicked, hanged, and electrocuted so that they would answer one important question: who initiated the movement of activists and students at that time.

The family of Arya Wibisono, as usual, on Sunday evening cooked together, making the favorite food of Biru Laut. The father will put one plate for him, one for the mother, one for Biru Laut, and one for the youngest Asmara Jati. They sit and wait. But, Biru Laut never comes home.

Asmara Jati along with Missing Persons Commission led by Awin Pradana tried to look for their lost tracks while recording and studying the testimony of the survivors. Anjani - Laut's girlfriend, the parents, and the wives of the missing activists demanded the answer about their missing families. Meanwhile, Biru Laut from the silent sea bottom told the world a story, about what happened to him and his friends.

Through "Laut Bercerita", Leila, who is also a journalist, tried to arrange the whole events happening in Indonesia during the transition year in 1998. Although Leila changed the characters' names, but most part of the plot was based on the past events.

As the title, "Laut Bercerita" is about Laut storytelling. The main character is Biru Laut, an English literature student in Yogyakarta joined Winatra, a student organization for poor people such as labors and farmers. With all government-opposing actions, Laut and his friends in Winatara and Wirasena organization must live in the shadows. More overly when Winatra was seen as riot mastermind, such as the Dark Saturday - a riot at Indonesian Democratic Party Central Board in Jakarta. In addition, the government publicly listed the activists of Winatra and Wirasena as wanted people.

The story of "Biru Laut" is a fiction, but living in pursuit feels so real. In the chapter of Biru Laut, we were told about struggle and betrayal. But, readers' emotion peaked in Asmara Jati chapter, which was about loss and denial. It shows how the parents of Biru Laut are still in a "cocoon" they made, denying that their son was dead by preparing a plate for Laut during lunch and dinner. Also, it was about how Asmara Jati -the sister tried to get her parents out of the cocoon and face the reality, that Laut is gone and will never return.

Laut is the main character that was depicted realistically by Leila. The book has also been adapted to short films about the victim families of 98 tragedy. Leila cannot tell the whole events of the New Order, but by writing the story of Biru Laut, Leila successfully depicted what happened and the feelings, especially the feelings of the grieving families, with a little spices of friendship, love, and betrayal. Laut lived, and he vanished and died not in simple way. "Laut Bercerita" is a very good history-based book about the dark politics in Indonesia at that time.