Let us note from this area, my friend, rows of bamboo trees grew along the banks of the Pesanggrahan River, flowing clear from Pangrango and ending near Muara Kapuk. Meanwhile, at the river mouth, a large banyan tree stood majestically, having grown there long before we settled in this area. When morning came, the sound of turtledoves from the rambutan trees blended with various insects playing nature's percussion around the Pesanggrahan River. My friend, I will never forget the beauty of the natural surroundings of Pesanggrahan. The place where I was born and raised. The place where I understood that a simple experience could teach much knowledge and the meaning of life.
However, all that beauty was only felt around 1950, when the Pesanggrahan River was still a clear-flowing river surrounded by large and lush trees. Now, after almost 35 years, the beauty of the Pesanggrahan River has been eroded by the greed of God's creatures for wealth and luxury. In the early 1980s, trees around the Pesanggrahan River were often felled by loggers working for a company that produced various furniture items. They cut down teak, sapodilla, bamboo, and other trees growing around the Pesanggrahan River. With utter greed, they felled these trees without replanting their seeds. As a result, over time, the trees that once grew along the banks of the Pesanggrahan River have now left behind a barrenness that, at any moment, invites the Pesanggrahan waters to overflow onto the land, causing damage to the surrounding areas. There is no longer the clear and swift flow of the Pesanggrahan River; I no longer feel the cool oxygen flowing among the lush trees. And I never again hear the sound of turtledoves singing from the rambutan branches. “I write your story on this paper, Bang Udin. So that many people will understand the importance of protecting and caring for our environment and the nature we live in. Your friend, Abdullah.”
Let's call him Bang Udin. A true Betawi man who had lived in the Pesanggrahan River area long before us. His real name was Khairudin. Bang Udin was lost in thought in his yard; the coffee his wife had just served didn't attract his attention at all. “Back when I was little, this river was where I spent time with my friends. Swimming, fishing, playing in the water, and many more memories I have with this river.” His face conveyed deep sorrow witnessing the state of the Pesanggrahan River, now devastated by the ferocity of industrial waste and human greed for power and natural resources they wished to control solely. His eyes gazed sadly at the river water, once clear, now dark black, polluted by chemicals and various trash. “Bang, your coffee will get cold!” said his beloved wife. Sipping the still-warm black coffee, Bang Udin said, “Well, I'm concerned about the state of this Pesanggrahan River.” “Me too, Bang. When I was little, I often played in this river. I bathed, washed clothes, fished, but what can we do, Bang? Now its condition has changed.” Bang Udin took another sip of his coffee. “Roughly, if I want to change this river, would you agree, Minah?” “What do you mean, Bang?” Minah asked, surprised. “I want to restore this river to its former state. I want to plant trees around this river.” “But this river is vast, Bang. Its headwaters are in Pangrango, and its mouth is in Muara Kapuk; its length alone is approximately 136 kilometers.” Bang Udin pulled Minah into his embrace. “I promise, Minah, I will try to restore this river to how it was in our childhood!” “Amen... Minah will always support and pray for you, Bang!” “Minah is indeed my most understanding wife!” Bang Udin praised, affectionately pinching Minah's cheek.
That afternoon, after school, I was walking home to my house in agricultural complex 4, not far from Karang Tengah village. As I walked along the banks of the Pesanggrahan River, I saw a burly man busy pacing back and forth along the riverbank. Upon closer observation, it turned out to be Bang Udin. “What are you doing, Bang?” I greeted him. “Oh... Is that you, Dul? I'm cleaning the riverbank. I want to plant trees here so it feels nice!” “Wow, you want to plant trees along this riverbank? Won't it be a hassle, Bang? This river is quite wide, isn't it?” I asked, surprised. “God willing, no, Dul. Just pray for me, okay? Later, when the trees have grown a lot, we can fish here while eating mangoes!” I smiled, agreeing with Bang Udin's suggestion.
My friend, Bang Udin's spirit to transform the area around the Pesanggrahan River into a green space was incredible. Every day, Bang Udin combed the Pesanggrahan River area from Karang Tengah village to the river mouth, cleaning up mountains of trash along the riverbanks. Meticulously, Bang Udin separated organic and inorganic waste. Organic waste was collected in his backyard garden and burned. Meanwhile, inorganic waste was gathered in a hole he dug behind his house, and once a large amount accumulated, he sold it to a plastic waste processing factory. All of this he did for one purpose. “Oh Allah, grant me Your blessing to protect and preserve Your creation!” My friend, like waves in the open sea. Every moment those waves will face a large and hard rock, but the waves keep crashing against the rock until eventually, the rock erodes. So it was with Bang Udin; everything he did to preserve the Pesanggrahan River did not go smoothly. For instance, this morning. A man with a fierce face approached Bang Udin, who was burning trash in front of his yard. “I heard you want to plant trees along the river?” the man asked without preamble. “Yes, Bang Gofar, why?” Bang Gofar took a step closer to Bang Udin, his gaze seemingly wanting to devour Bang Udin with a body no less intimidating than his stare. But Bang Udin was not fazed in the slightest by Bang Gofar's attitude; his gaze remained calm. “So it's true, what the villagers are saying?” Bang Udin nodded firmly. “Bang, I'm warning you. If you insist on planting trees along the Pesanggrahan River, you won't be safe!” “My safety is not determined by you, but by Allah! You want to threaten me? Go ahead! I'm not afraid! Besides, why are you angry if I want to plant trees along the Pesanggrahan River?” Bang Gofar sneered. “Bang, are you stupid or pretending to be stupid? All this time, the Pesanggrahan River that passes through our village has been our dumping ground. If you plant trees along the riverbank, where will the villagers' trash be thrown? To your house!?” “Bang, think about it! Because we often throw trash into the riverbanks, our village often floods. Are you willing to let our village flood almost every year?” Bang Gofar fumed. “Listen, Bang, the Pesanggrahan River is the only place we villagers throw our trash. Do you want to pay the garbage collectors who pick up trash daily in the next complex to pick up our village's enormous amount of trash?” Bang Udin refused to back down; for him, the trash problem could be overcome, but what about the destruction of nature? If not handled quickly, the damage would worsen. “Bang, our village's trash can be dealt with if we want to. There are still many lands that can be used as dumping grounds, it depends on our will, Bang, whether we want to manage that place into a dumping ground. Anyway, I still want to plant trees around the Pesanggrahan River, and you have no right to forbid me!” “If Bang Udin insists on planting trees along the riverbank, you will face the villagers.” “I'm not afraid, Bang, after all, this is for their good too. If you keep forbidding me, just see how it feels when trash piles up around you!” After saying that, Bang Udin left Bang Gofar, who was trembling with suppressed anger.
Day by day, Bang Udin lived with the spirit of a hero. For him, a hero was someone willing to sacrifice for the well-being of those around him, disregarding the sneers and taunts from villagers incited by Bang Gofar. He also ignored the villagers' curses over his "carelessness" in transforming the village's dumping ground into a green space. I was moved to see the struggle of the man I admired so much. This afternoon, I approached Bang Udin, who was preparing starfruit seedlings he had obtained in Bogor. “May I join your activities, Bang?” Bang Udin looked at me gratefully. “You are indeed a thoughtful friend, Abdullah, please help me! I can't possibly do all this alone.” “God willing, Bang, but I can't help you every day, maybe once a week at most. You know, Bang, I'm still in school.” “Just your willingness to help me, Dul, I am very grateful. The important thing is that we must work together, shoulder to shoulder, to rebuild the forest around this Pesanggrahan River.” Since that afternoon meeting, every Saturday and Sunday, I helped Bang Udin prepare seedlings to be planted along the Pesanggrahan River.
After almost 5 years of our efforts to green the Pesanggrahan area, several seedlings had finally grown into lush, fruit-laden trees. Starfruit, rambutan, teak, and mango trees thrived rapidly thanks to Bang Udin's meticulous care. After successfully planting tree seedlings, Bang Udin tried managing the fishponds around the river. With fish seeds he obtained from a close friend, Bang Udin successfully bred fish in the ponds near the Pesanggrahan River. These ponds were often used for fishing by villagers and residents of the complex living around Karang Tengah village. That afternoon, Bang Udin was teaching us young people how to select good seeds to cultivate for excellent results. He showed which seeds were ready for planting and which were entirely unsuitable. Suddenly, a man with a fierce face approached Bang Udin and immediately yelled at him with harsh words. “Turns out you're hard to talk to, huh!? My patience is exhausted, Bang. Now trees have already grown in the Pesanggrahan River area, if you stubbornly continue planting trees, I will tell the villagers to cut them down!” Bang Udin remained calm, but his gaze sharply pierced the man's eyes. “Bang Gofar, if you intend to tell the villagers to cut down the trees that I and the young people have painstakingly planted, you will experience what it feels like when trash piles up haphazardly along the Pesanggrahan River.” “What do you mean, Bang?” Bang Gofar asked. “Just wait until tonight!” Bang Gofar left grumbling. Bang Udin continued his explanation, which had been interrupted by Bang Gofar's arrival. “If mango seeds are shriveled like this, their quality is not good. They might not even grow. If you want to plant mangoes, choose the seeds directly. Like this one, for example,” he explained, picking up a medium-sized mango. “If we plant seeds like this, God willing, the results will be good.”
Bang Udin truly proved his words. “After 5 years, that Mr. RT still hasn't realized his mistake. Let me teach him a lesson!” he thought. In the middle of the night, Bang Udin went to Bang Gofar's house, carrying a rather large sack. From inside the sack came a very pungent stench. With a firm stride, Bang Udin approached Bang Gofar's spacious yard. With one elegant motion, he threw the large sack, making it land precisely in the middle of the yard, and how disgusting its contents were, spilling out in an instant and spreading across the entire yard. Inorganic waste consisting of various plastics, iron, glass shards, and much more covered almost the entire surface of the yard floor. Meanwhile, mixed with rusty objects, chicken droppings were scattered, covering the once shiny floor of Bang Gofar's yard. Apparently, this was the source of the smell emanating from the sack. After observing the chaos he had caused for a moment, Bang Udin hurried back home.
The next day, Bang Gofar was busy running around, scolding everyone because of the extraordinary mess in his yard the previous night. “That person is like a dog, throwing trash in front of my house. Don't they have any manners?” Those were the words he uttered whenever he met anyone. Finally, Bang Gofar discovered who was responsible for the chaos that had caused his house to be swarmed by feasting flies all morning. This morning, Bang Udin was teaching us how to select and manage fish seeds, as Bang Udin was transferring fish seeds ready for breeding to one of the processing ponds. Bang Gofar arrived and immediately attacked Bang Udin. “I know who threw trash in my yard. It was you, wasn't it? Answer me, Bang!” Bang Gofar yelled. Bang Udin got up after being knocked down by Bang Gofar's kick; Bang Udin's face was red with suppressed anger. But he remained calm. “If it was, why, Bang Gofar? Isn't that what you wanted?” Bang Gofar was about to hit Bang Udin again, but we young people immediately stopped him. “Bang Gofar, if you really don't want trees to grow around the Pesanggrahan River, it's better for you to leave this village. We don't want a thorn that damages this village. You should realize how chaotic our village becomes when the Pesanggrahan River overflows. It's a pity, Bang, the children who suffer from diarrhea, dengue fever, malaria. Are you heartless? It's up to you if you still act up, we won't stay silent!” Bang Gofar looked at me with regret. “Forgive me, Dul, it's just that I don't know where else we should throw trash if not into the Pesanggrahan River banks?” I took a step closer to Bang Gofar. “There's still a way, Bang, to handle the trash in our village. That's why you should join this activity!” Slowly, Bang Gofar's expression began to soften. “Yes, Dul, I'll join this activity. Bang Udin, forgive me!” “Yes, Bang, the most important thing is that you now understand the importance of greening around this Pesanggrahan River, Bang. The river that was truly the source of life for our parents back then.” We cheered, welcoming Bang Gofar to our activity.
20 years later. BBC journalist Haidar Affan was parking his van in an open field. The grass growing along the edge of the field looked neatly maintained. After the van was safely parked, the BBC journalist got out of the car with a BBC cameraman, a white man with straight hair covered by a blue conical hat. They walked along a stone path towards a village that had been previously surveyed. “Does he live here?” the cameraman asked. “Yes, and I hope we get something interesting for our BBC environmental program.” Finally, after walking for 30 minutes, they arrived at a small forest filled with green trees. On the left side of the forest were 3 ponds containing various types and sizes of freshwater fish. And there he was, the man whose name was already well-known in the national news world, whom they were looking for. The two BBC journalists approached Bang Udin, who was tidying the grass covering watermelon plants. “Good afternoon, Mr. Udin?” Bang Udin turned towards the voice that greeted him. For a moment, he seemed nervous but quickly composed himself. “Yes, I am Khairudin. Who are you gentlemen?” “We are journalists from BBC Indonesia, based in London; we are part of the BBC 'Our Environment' program. We would like to interview you about your success in developing a green forest around the Pesanggrahan River,” the BBC journalist explained. Bang Udin invited them to a large, shady banyan tree. Upon arriving there, the three of them conversed while being filmed by the BBC cameraman. Bang Udin told them about his journey in developing the green forest whose atmosphere they were now enjoying. How he got the idea, and about the challenges he faced caused by his villagers. They talked for over 3 hours, after which the BBC journalist wanted to see the activities of the village youth who were cultivating plant and fish seedlings along the Pesanggrahan River. “If I may ask, Bang Udin, do you have a name for this youth activity?” the BBC journalist asked. “Sanggar Buana! That is the name of our group.”
A week later, the news was broadcast through the BBC network in Indonesia. Exactly at 05:50. I, who was listening to the BBC broadcast at that time, immediately rushed to Bang Udin's house. “Assalamualaikum, Bang!” I exclaimed, running towards Bang Udin, who was preparing to go to the fishpond. “Why are you running like you're being chased by a ghost?” “You're on the radio!” Bang Udin looked surprised. “How can I fit into the radio? Don't you see how big I am!” I chuckled at my own words. “I mean, you're in the news on the radio. You're in the news on the BBC!” “Are you serious?” “Yes, Bang, if you don't believe me, come with me!” We headed to my house. Upon arriving there, the BBC newsreader was still reporting on a forest conservation figure in the Karang Tengah area of Lebak Bulus, South Jakarta. Bang Udin was stunned when his name was mentioned as that figure by the BBC newsreader. In an instant, radios throughout the village buzzed with chatter, all hearing one thing: Bang Udin's news on BBC London. Bang Udin smiled proudly, “I hope the government hears this news. And may their concern for the environment be awakened!” he murmured to himself.