I began to pay attention to social problems, especially in the city of Bandung, in 2011. At that time, I worked as a part-time social worker in an institution dealing with HIV and drug issues. This experience then led me to get to know various communities in society. During my dealings with the district, I see the role of women, especially housewives, who significantly influence what happens in every home, which then affects the community on a broader scale.
The experience of seeing how a housewife has extraordinary abilities in her efforts to survive is while working on a photo project with children with HIV. When listening to the stories of homemakers when they found out that they were infected with HIV from their partners who made them feel down and then had to get up again to give birth and raise their children who were also infected with HIV, their instinct to care for and struggle to survive is extraordinary, and I see many homemakers have it. The following experience was when I did an independent residency in Pulosari village, Bandung, where I paid attention to how the life of the people there every day for three months. This brought me into contact with mothers in the area. I see how the position of homemakers is very decisive in implementing the idea of change because of their very strategic position in society. These mothers have control within each family which ultimately influences collective decisions in society. The role of fathers more or less follows what their wives
direct.
Through this experience, I saw how the role of mothers became essential to change society. When I met Mang Dian through a program that we initiated together, entitled Sedekah Benih. Mang Dian himself has previously worked with mothers in the areas he leads. I see there is an excellent opportunity to do something together which is the beginning of the formation of the “The Power of Emak-Emak” program, which is one part of the Sedekah Benih program specifically for homemakers.
These mothers are hard workers with a collective spirit for the common good. This power needs to be accommodated and directed so that it can be beneficial for homemakers and the community. So far, they have had several dreams for the garden they work with, including the damaged condition of some parts of the park, the number of harvests they want to increase, and several collaborative programs with women from other regions. These things cannot be executed due to limited funds and workforce. This led me to offer this collaboration with the Looks Who’s Talking project from Project 7 ½. Through several series of meetings, finally, several activities were agreed upon as part of this cooperation program from February to September 2022. With the of Mang Rojak and other male participants, this program was able to execute.
Every two weeks, a collective harvest is held where some of the produce is sold and distributed to people who can’t afford it. Now, several mothers from other regions are getting inspired and doing activities related to the environment. “The power of Emak-Emak” is also starting to become an open forum for mothers from any area. In the future, cooperation with local women will be initiated and will be carried out.
“The Power of Emak-Emak” is a group of housewives who work together as a work effort between disciplines and institutions to solve environmental problems and food security in the smallest area, namely Rukun Tetangga . “The Power of Emak-Emak” is a safe space for homemakers to express themselves for the common good. While working on this project, I learn and believe that one way to change society is through mothers.
– Vincent Rumahloine –
]According to KBBI, ‘emak-emak’ (plural) derived from ‘mak’ (singular) can be identified as a femalewho deserves to be called a mother or considered equal to a mother. The power of emakemak emerged in public from memes on the internet at the beginning of 2016. The memes are represented through low-definition pictures showing emak-emak behaving rebelliously on the road track, riding a motorbike without any helmet, piggybacking three children in a motorbike, and sending a left turn signal. In contrast, the motorbike turns right, vice versa, or even the motorbike in the opposite direction.
Unfortunately, it seems uneasy for emak-emak to admit their mistakes when violating traffic rules for various reasons they must do in a rush; it also becomes an excuse for them that what they do is always correct and acceptable even if factually they are wrong. In society itself, there is a term that refers to the sexist phrase “women are always right” that reinforces romantic life relationships. The existence of misunderstandings until quarrels in a relationship generates the term “guys are always wrong, girls are always right.” This term also expanded and became a shield for the justification of girls and mothers not being haunted by guilt when making mistakes.
However, when dealing with the violation from riders on the road, it is not only broken by emakemak. But whenever emak-emak are caught on the camera while breaking the traffic rules, the recorders intentionally film it to produce a joke in any form. In everyday life, many gentlemen make the same mistakes, too, when riding their motorbikes. However, filming Emak-Emak’s violation will quickly get more insight on social media.
In 2018, this term became increasingly viral in Indonesia because it was used as the name of a group of women supporting one of the candidates in the presidential election. Because of its the Indonesian Women’s Congress (Kowani); the term ‘emak-emak’ seemed to have a negative connotation that was contrary to the concept of the mother of the nation that Indonesia has had since 1935. She disapproved of using the term ‘emak-emak’ to degrade the quality or value of Indonesian women.
In contrast, many also define this term regarding the role of emak-emak in society to build civilization and prepare the future. An example is the event “The Power of Emak-Emak, A Tribute to Kartini,” held in Depok, Indonesia. The talk show depicts how women’s roles and multitasks can spread the merit in their environment by absorbing the struggles and values of RA Kartini, which certainly greatly influenced women in her era and after her death.
A similar thing happens in Cibogo, Bandung. A group of mothers aged 35-66 actively contribute their roles to society and declared themselves as The Power of Emak-Emak. They play volleyball, clean the village cooperatively, and collect reduceable plastic, metal, and paper-based boxes. As a volleyball team, they are active in inter-village matches within the same city and competing in villages outside the area. The excellent and energetic game leads them to many victories that make the village proud. Their achievements are due to the discipline and support of the family and community when training.
Their teamwork can be seen not only when they are on the volleyball field but also when they show awareness of environmental sustainability issues every Friday morning, Jum’at Bersih (Cleaning on Friday). They pick up and sort garbage scattered on the streets around their homes. While doing Jum’at Bersih around the village, they also invite other residents to collect plastic, metal, and paper waste that can be recycled. Then the proceeds from selling these wastes are used to give the babies and elderly snacks in every 10th of the month. Further, they also do urban farming starting by turning abandoned and disposal areas into a productive farms. They name the farms as Buruan Sae. Buruan Sae means a beautiful backyard. They grow various vegetables, fruit, and herbs; kale, lettuce, chili, tomato, strawberry, etc. Eventually, The Power of Emak-emak collective progressively spread extraordinary value for the environment.
Seeing their solidarity and contribution to society, a Korean socially collaborative art project proposes emak-emak from Cibogo Village to actively participate in its project, Look Who is Talking. It funds emak- emak to makeover their urban farming amid limited green areas for the low-class community in Bandung. By following the directions from Mang Ojak as the person who has been involved in converting slattern landfill into productive farms.
The existence of this collective in maintaining their urban farming supports them to sustain and secure food logistics. They manage to distribute the harvest at a lower price to people in the village by walking around door to door. Furthermore, their farms has a significant achievement for winning an urban farming competition as the runner-up, eliminating 150 other participants in Bandung, 2022. Thus, what they do and achieve hopefully can also empower Indonesian women to contribute to maintaining and utilizing the environment well.
Further, “The Power of Emak-Emak” is a neutral term. People openly define the term whether to empower or even degrade the figure of emak-emak in Indonesian society. For emak-emak in Cibogo Village, Bandung, the term is defined as an impactful term that embraces collaboration, awareness, and dedication to the community and environment.
– Della Sabarini –