Oyos Saroso HN, The Jakarta Post, Bandarlampung
"I`m a singer doing the regent`s job as a hobby," are the words often uttered by Central Lampung Regent Andy Achmad Sampurna Jaya when asked about his background. Andy is indeed the only Malay pop singer who has served as regent for two five-year terms, from 2000 to 2010.
Andy`s statement suggests his love for music and artistic finesse in handling bureaucratic matters. When he first came to office in 2000 his singing career aroused the suspicion of local councilors. His frequent weekend trips to Jakarta were often mistaken as leisure time spent with fellow artists.
"Actually I went to Jakarta to look for investors. If I had just remained here nobody would notice Central Lampung`s investment potential. There is no doubt that Jakarta is the center of fund circulation in Indonesia," said the regent, who is also chairman of the Central Lampung Singers and Songwriters Association.
Andy was later vindicated as investors flocked to Central Lampung to develop the regency`s agribusiness sector. The home minister and councilors finally understood the purpose of Andy`s visits to Jakarta, which led to the end of all protests and restrictions on him.
Long before the election for Central Lampung regent in 2000, Andy Achmad, born in Tanjungkareng on Sept. 2, 1949, and nicknamed Kanjeng, was already known as a singer. From the 1970s through 1980s, Andy regularly hosted a Malay pop songs program on TVRI. He was close to famous pop singers of the time such as Bob Tutupoly, Koes Hendratmo and Rita Nasution, and later on junior artists including Inne Cynthia and Inul Daratista.
His "golden" voice was recorded on the Malay pop song album Bulan Separuh (Crescent). At present, Andy is traveling back and forth between Lampung and Jakarta to complete two duet albums with female vocalist Tri Utamie. One of the albums contains the pop songs of Deli Malay, and other Indonesian pop songs from the 1970s.
"My busy schedule in Central Lampung has limited the recording to only two songs per session. Though my voice is still strong, I realize that I`m not young any more," said the father of four.
After enjoying a singing career in Jakarta during the 1980s, Andy returned to Lampung in the 1990s to pursue business and politics. However, even in Lampung, he was known as a singer rather than an entrepreneur.
As an indigenous Lampung descendant, Andy knows very well how to govern his regency, which has a 65 percent ethnic Javanese majority. He is a bureaucrat with an artistic touch.
"I`ve never shown discrimination between indigenous people, the Javanese majority and the Chinese minority," assured the collector of hundreds of kris (traditional daggers) from all over the country.
From Dutch colonial times through to the New Order period, Central Lampung was a transmigration destination for migrants from Java and Bali. Ethnic Javanese now constitute 65 percent of the regency`s 1.2 million population, and ethnic Balinese 6.5 percent.
According to Andy Achmad, the various ethnic cultures in his region have become a valuable asset for development. Therefore, as an artist-turned regional chief, he allows freedom to all the ethnic groups to develop their respective cultural elements.
"Besides Lampung`s traditional arts, we also have reog Ponorogo (Java`s mask folk dance), wayang kulit (Java`s shadow puppet show), barongsai (Chinese lion dance) and Bali`s ogoh-ogoh (purging of evil) or kecak dance," he revealed.
Andy is considered a protector of the Balinese community in Lampung, and a Hindu-Bali group in Central Lampung some time ago honored him with the title Anak Agung Dharma Wisesa, which is rarely awarded to non-Balinese people. At the end of December 2006, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono granted a cultural award to Andy for the successful development of original Lampung language characters to be used in schools.
Despite the 1997 riots in Bandarjaya, conflict involving the targeting of ethnic Chinese has now been suppressed. Aside from the introduction of an assimilation program, ethnic conflict has being minimized through annual interfaith gatherings and group prayer, with Muslims, Hindus, Christians, Buddhists and Confucianists participating.
"After five years of regular group prayer, there is an awareness in society that ethnic and religious differences are a blessing, and this has made the public more tolerant," noted the ex-member of the People`s Consultative Assembly (MPR).
His artist status does not mean that the regent automatically focuses on boosting regional arts. As Central Lampung is the agribusiness base of Lampung province, Andy puts emphasis on the development of agriculture.
One of his endeavors to increase agricultural productivity is to ensure even distribution of water among farmers by forming "water-user" groups. Through this system, farmers utilizing the Sekampung and Seputih river streams are able to obtain sufficient water to irrigate their fields. As a result, they harvest twice a year while farmers in other regions reap only once.
Owing to his agricultural and irrigation development achievements, in November 2006 Andy was awarded the Satyalancana Pembangunan and Satyalancana Wira Karya medals of merit by the President.
Source: www.thejakartapost.com (26 April 2007)
