La Asiru, Tales from Wakatobi

KOMPAS/ICHWAN SUSANTO

La Asiru

La Asiru never seems to run out of stories to tell. He can talk on a variety of topics through the stories about his life and those that he composes. Returning to Wakatobi after the 1999 Maluku conflict, La Asiru uses his stories and storytelling skills to guide the people of Wakatobi in preserving their culture and protecting their seas.

La Asiru, who is locally known as Patua (elder), had just come home from leading a prayer at a neighbor’s house in the village of Kulati in Tomia, Wakatobi, Southeast Sulawesi, when we met approaching the Maghrib dusk prayer on Monday, Jan. 28, 2019. He changed out of his blue batik shirt, which had gotten wet in the rain that afternoon, and into white garments.

His wife, Wa Nina, 60, his youngest child La Hanafi, as well as several relatives had attended a discussion that afternoon with a group from The Nature Conservancy. The served mangoes and offered coffee, complete with glasses, ground coffee, sugar and a thermos filled with hot water.

He told about his experience as a “runaway” when he fled from the 1999 sectarian conflict in Maluku.

“In Tual, Christians and Muslims lived well, like brothers and sisters. I never expected [that the conflict] in Ambon would reach Tual,” La Asiru said, referring to the city where he lived at the time.

La Asiru, who had made millions from working as a fisherman and fish harvester, had no savings when the unrest erupted. He had spent his money on delivering fresh anchovies to Surabaya, East Java, and other cities.

He fled Tual on a sailboat with 10 family members and relatives. After two weeks at sea, the marine winds sent him back home to Tomia, Southeast Sulawesi, which he had left in 1978 when he was 35 years old.

La Asiru made land in Tomia, even though the sailboat was small. He was convinced he could cross the seas because of his experience as a helmsman in the 1960s on a cargo ship that sailed to Manado, Java and Papua (formerly Irian), and even smuggled goods to the Philippines.

“In the Philippines, I did not dare go into the city because smugglers could get caught. I exchanged all my pesos for gold,” he recalled.

Twenty years later, he found himself back in Tomia, living on the beach in a para-para, a makeshift shack only 150 centimeters tall with a roof made of thatched pandan leaves and coconut midribs.

Local fishermen of the past used para-para as a temporary shelter when they were at sea for several days. Understandably, fishing the seas took from several days to weeks in the past, as the fishermen relied solely on the power of the wind to sail their fishing boats.

Small shack

La Asiru lives in the small para-para with his wife and children. Over several days, he worked the land to grow corn and built a simple fishing boat. He sourced the wooden planks from abandoned boats and buildings.

“When the boat was finished, my child said, ‘Wow, [daddy] can build a ship just like other people’,” La Asiru recalled, chuckling. In 2001, his family, who had been recognized as refugees of the Maluku conflict, received Rp 3.5 million in government compensation. His wife wanted to use the money to build a proper house, without an earthen floor like in the para-para.

However, La Asiru said the compensation was not enough to build a house. They would need much, much more. So he decided to use the money to buy a boat engine. He had to buy the engine in Baubau regency back then, until Wakatobi became an autonomous region in 2003.

“By buying a boat engine, I could sail farther to catch fish,” he said. He still remembered that the 22-horsepower engine cost Rp 1.9 million. He used the remaining money to buy a coat of paint for the boat.

La Asiru said he used the boat to transport sand, which was not yet prohibited. In addition, Wakatobi National Park (TN) had just been established, so there was minimal supervision of the activity.

La Asiru started becoming involved in the newly established park, although he said he had been active in environmental conservation when he had lived in Seram, Maluku.

He also admitted he was involved in illegal logging, selling poached ironwood to several areas. He once found a huge tree with a trunk so big that it took at least two people to encircle it with their arms outstretched. When the tree was felled with a chainsaw, it took down several trees around it.

“The other trees were felled too, not just the trees I cut. A large forest became empty land. It was then that I realized it took decades for a tree to grow so large. So I stopped [trading timber] and became a fisherman,” he said.

When the Wakatobi National Park Office started a new zoning project, he was actively involved in representing the local fishermen. Armed with the stories he had composed, La Asiru was regularly invited to the Wakatobi management’s planning meetings.

‘Guci Naga’

One of his most popular stories is “Guci Naga” [dragon urn], about an antique urn that a community had inherited from their ancestors. Due to poverty, the people sold the urn and shared the money. However, after the money was gone, the community returned to poverty. It would have been better if the community had not sold the dragon urn and instead put it on display for people willing to pay to see it.

Guci Naga is an allegorical tale of the beautiful seas of Wakatobi. If fishermen used blast fishing to catch as many fish as they could, the seas would eventually become damaged and the fish would disappear. The people would then go hungry.

“That’s the benefit of the national park. We have to maintain the seas. Many people will [come], and we will enjoy the benefits,” La Asiru said.

Another of his stories is “Kodok Membunuh Raja” (a frog kills the king) that tells of a frog, which – with the help of millipedes, snakes and tigers – is able to kill the king who had planned to kill it.

The frog symbolizes the indigenous people of Wakatobi, who had lived there long before the “king” (government) developed a national park. The king also represents the developers that have turned the people’s land into a private resort. However, if the king expelled the people to develop a national park, he would face resistance from the local community.

La Asiru said that the inspiration for his stories usually came to him during discussions about Wakatobi and its problems.

“In composing stories like these, I was [invited] to participate in meetings at the regency, the central government and elsewhere,” he said.

Now 76, Patua is still passionate about sharing his stories. The storyteller might never run out of ideas as long as Wakatobi National Park exists in protecting the local environment and people.

La Asiru

Born: Kulati, July 1, 1943

Wife: Wa Nina, 60

Children: La Harjono, Wa Sufinarti, La Hanafi

Occupation: Fisherman

Activity: Adviser, Tomia Fishermen’s Community (Komunto)