Ipda Made Ambo's story preserves the fading nokok sago culture in Papua
indonesia-breaking-news.blogspot.com - The traditional activity of processing or squeezing starch from sago tree trunks or sago nokoks in Papua turns out to be getting weaker as time goes by. Sago nokok activities are ultimately limited to making papeda, which is mostly consumed for residents' daily meals.
For Ipda Made Ambo, who has served in Bumi Cenderawasih for 31 years, and has already fallen in love with Papua, the erosion of the nokok sago culture is a concern for him. Ipda Made Ambo was proposed by the Papua Police as a candidate for Hoegeng Corner because of his dedication to the Papuan people.
"So far, no one cares about sago in Jayapura. Many sago forests have also changed their function. We want to make the Papuan people aware that there is still a sago culture, eating sago is still there, don't forget about it. This is wrong one characteristic that we are Papuans," said Ipda Made Ambo to Indoline.info on Tuesday (31/10/2023).
He said that when he took over as Depapre Police Chief in 2021, sago chopping became a routine activity with his mothers. Ipda Made Ambo said that apart from preserving the culture of eating sago, menokok together is also a way to approach the community.
"So that we can communicate with the community's cultural approach," said Ipda Made Ambo.
The sago nokok activity was continued by Ipda Made when he served as Head of the Public Binmas Unit for the Jayapura Police since 2022. Ipda Made even taught sago nokok to police officers who had just graduated from the State Police School (SPN).
"I also teach non-commissioned officers who have just graduated from SPN and will be on duty. Not only sago nokok, our (police) juniors also get other life skills training such as making pig feed from banana tree trunks, making organic fertilizer from moringa leaves and ", pest medicine from soaking onion skins and tobacco which can be obtained from leftover cigarette butts," explained Ipda Made Ambo.
"I found a potion for agriculture, so I tried it myself, and also studied on the internet. If I tried it several times, it was successful, I told the public. Because of my experience, people who farm or farm always complain that fertilizer prices are expensive, insecticide prices are expensive, he continued.
Ipda Made Ambo said he deliberately taught social science to new members of the National Police serving in Papua. According to him, security and public order (kamtibmas) disturbances will automatically decrease if the police are always with the community.
"I want the presence of the police among the Papuan people to give meaning, to help them. My principle is to make people's lives easier, that makes me really happy," said Ipda Made Ambo.
Ipda Made said that the police and residents have also now planted sago trees in protected forests. The planting of sago trees began with his proposal to Jayapura Police Chief AKBP Fredrickus W.A Maclarimboen to re-green the protected forest of Mount Cyclops.
"In 2019, massive flash floods in Jayapura were partly due to the change in the function of the forest, right? The buffer forest under Mount Cyclops was damaged. Plus, there are many people who have nomadic habits, gardening with nomads, cutting down forests here, forests there, " explained Ipda Made Ambo regarding the movement to reforest protected forests around Mount Cyclops to prevent flash floods.
"We had a flashback about the Sentani flash flood, the victims were terrible at that time. That's why we said to the Police Chief, 'This Commander, if we don't take action, no one will do anything. We have to be the pioneers'. The Police Chief welcomed, 'Come on, Bli "Let's play." So we asked the Agriculture Service for seeds. Then the Police Chief came up with the idea of just planting sago trees," he continued.
He then appreciated AKBP Fredrickus who was trying to restore the glory of sago by holding the Colo Sago Festival. Colo sago is actually one way of eating sago, namely by dipping it in coffee or tea.
"Papeda is just one of the foods made from sago. There are also snacks made from sago, then there is also sago forno which is made by burning it in a container made of clay. After we held it, it turned out that the public's attention was extraordinary. Then we planted it. "The sago forest is back. That's why my police chief is so extraordinary," said Ipda Made Ambo.
Ipda Made said that after the Colo Sago Festival and the replanting of sago forests, he received calls from people in other villages asking for a similar program to be held in their area. Ipda Made also asked the residents to prepare the land and he sent his members to help the residents clear the land to plant sago.
"We have planted sago six times. Now the people of the villages have started to wake up again, realizing again how important sago is for them. I explained, sago is not only for papeda, there are also others. Thankfully after we held the Colo Sago Festival "The Regent of Jayapura then made a policy that every Monday all employees in the regent's office must do colo sago first," explained Ipda Made.
"The Regent is endorsing it so that women who produce food from sago don't lose their products, someone buys them. What does this have to do with social security? If people are focused, have a routine, have an income, are busy, how can they think of committing a nuisance or crime? " said Ipda Made Ambo.
Ipda Made said that now the farmer groups assisted by the Jayapura Police are developing by planting chilies. "We are now developing from this sago, with assisted farmer groups also planting chilies. For what? Efforts to overcome inflation," concluded Ipda Made.
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