EXCERPT OF EPISODE ONE
Two girls, both fussy and fastidious, have a discussion while enjoying a meal in the middle of their daily activities. One is a grumpy but rational girl who is knowledgeable about local indigenous wisdoms while the other is a fashionista who is more interested in modern life but still loves everything about her village. Both make a perfect combination of bawi bajelap, a Dayak phrase for talkative girls.
BAJELAP is a dramatic comedy series that provides not only entertainment but also educates the public about current issues that Kalimantan is facing and traditional local wisdoms of the region. It features two Ranu Welum board members, Roro Garini and Anastasia Dita, as the actors. “Balut Pundang” is the first episode, which revolves around a conversation about Indonesia’s plan to clear 900,000 hectares of peat area in Central Kalimantan for the Food Estate Mega Project.
Facing an impending food crisis in the era of the COVID-19 outbreak, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's administration made a decision to embark on a new food estate project that would clear 900,000 hectares of land in Central Kalimantan and convert them into giant rice fields. The plan is eerily reminiscent of President Soeharto's one-million-hectare Mega Rice Project (MRP) under his New Order regime, a project that Dayak communities, activists, and environmental experts all deem a total failure. This is potentially creating another chapter of ecological disaster in Kalimantan and will be catastrophic for the future of Dayak communities as the central government plans to bring hundreds of thousands of farmers from Java to work on the project (click here to read more about the Food Estate project).
Kalimantan has a long history of being at the center of the Indonesian government’s pilot mega projects. The multifaceted issues of environmental destruction and the violation of indigenous rights have too often conflicted with the idea of national development. Nevertheless, this “development” gradually deteriorates the cultures and traditions of Dayak communities.
fishing scene
Emmanuela Shinta, the creator of this series, sees the urgency of spotlighting these issues in a way that can be understood by a mainstream audience. Shinta believes, “Every policy related to land and forest management should be a mutual topic, which we, Dayak people, can discuss on a regular basis. These topics should not be hidden or made exclusive to certain groups, as their results will greatly determine the future of the Dayak people.”
Anastasia Dita is excited to work on the series and explains, “This is an innovative way of sharing our experiences in modern day Kalimantan, including facts about existing political issues.”
Roro has a different perspective on the series: “What challenges me the most is not portraying the character, but how to describe the data in a way that can be understood by a variety of audiences. We work hard on the diction and inflections because we don’t want to make it sounds rigid. It should be convincing yet not discouraging. That’s our goal.”
Currently, the Ranu Welum team is working on the second episode. Emmanuela Shinta asks the audience to send love and support. “We will work hard and do our best to continue to improve each time,” says Emmanuela.
Watch the first episode “Balut Pundang” on Ranu Welum’s Youtube Channel. Don’t forget to like us, leave a comment, and subscribe.