Harris Smart writes…
On the weekend of March 19-20 an important meeting was held in Rungan Sari of the board of PT PCB (Pancaran Cahaya Bahagia), which is one of the joint venture partners overseeing the development of the Subud-owned land in Kalimantan. (137 hectares altogether including the present Rungan Sari on 5 hectares.)
This company is the business arm of YMS (Yayasan Muhammad Subuh) which was established to own assets in Indonesia, such as Bapak’s house in Wisma Subud, on behalf of the World Subud Association,.
As is well known, the ownership and development of the land in Kalimantan has a long and complicated history.
Following Bapak’s visit to Kalimantan in 1980, the governor of Central Kalimantan opened the way for Subud to acquire 437 hectares of land about 36 km from the provincial capital, Palankaraya. But the land still had to be bought from the traditional owners and for many years insufficient funds were available to do this,
Finally, through the generosity of the Indonesian Subud member, Pak Siregar, the 137 hectares were purchased by PCB. Pak Siregar also funded the building of a latihan hall at the centre of the development
Ibu Rahayu built the first house here and other Subud members have followed. Efforts to create more facilities occurred in the period leading up to Bapak’s Centenary and the proposed Subud World Congress in 2001. The Congress had to be relocated to Bali because of civil unrest in Kalimantan, but the result of these efforts resulted in new assets like the Rungan Sari Meeting Center and Resort and the Muhammad Subuh Centre.
Funding for these developments came from Subud members including Hamid da Silva, Rahman Connelly and Bradford Temple. The Eco-Village was also built, to provide low-cost accommodation, particularly for Subud youth.
A joint venture named RSP (Rungan Sari Permai) was set up between PCB and Hamid da Silva’s company KRE (Kalimantan Real Estate). It is this joint venture which now has an overall responsibility for the development of the land.
The purpose of the PCB meeting in March was to consider the many issues surrounding the current situation in Rungan Sari and the place’s future development. It was indicative of renewed energy in PCB following the appointment of a new President, Pak Y Diasmono, a man with long business experience particularly in the banking and finance sectors. Also newly appointed as Komisaris is Pak Hatanto Reksodipoetro, formerly Secretary General of Indonesia’s Department of Trade and an ambassador to Norway. The meeting was also attended by Farlan Williams representing Yayasan Muhammad Subud.
One of the main items on the agenda was to examine ways that existing assets such as the Eco-Village and the Muhammad Subud Centre could be used more extensively and made more profitable, but the general message from meeting could be summed up by saying that it aimed to further awaken interest in the development of Subud in Kalimantan.
Rungan Sari has now grown into a thriving community consisting of about forty houses as well as the assets mentioned above. A multi-cultural international community has grown up here and a collection of enterprises, social welfare projects and community facilities radiate from it.
These include the Rungan Sari Meeting Center and Resort; Kalimantan Gold Corporation the BCU school; the Muhammad Subuh Centre and the Eco-Village; the riverboat enterprise of Gaye Thavisin and Lorna Dowson Collins; Borneo Productions International, the video production company; the community development projects of YTS; the educational, health and agricultural projects of YUM.
There are as well a number of new initiatives including fledgling agricultural projects not in Rungan Sari itself but on nearby land purchased by Subud members. There are also the micro-businesses of enterprising local Subud members, often run by women and based on food and catering. Fresh coconuts can be delivered to your door.
Rungan Sari has also been a the venue for many important Subud gatherings including the WSC meeting in 2004 attended by 300 people. This year (2011) it is planned that the WSC meeting will be held here and the next Indonesian Congress is also scheduled for Rungan Sari.
Farlan Williams summed up the spirit of the PCB meeting by saying, “The message we would like to get out to people is that there is now a welcoming environment for people to come and work in Kalimantan. At one time, it was very hard to live here, but now things have changed a lot.
“Not only has Rungan Sari itself developed into a supportive and energetic community, but the whole region is going ahead. Palankaraya is turning into a bustling city with modern facilities like supermarkets, and employment opportunities are increasing. There are now six flights a day with cheap air fares between Jakarta and Palankaraya. We would like to encourage Subud members to seriously think about coming here.”
Farlan also mentioned that people who originally supported Bapak’s Kalimantan vision by buying titles to plots of land here should stay in touch with Bachrun Bustillo who can advise about circumstances such as land tax affecting plotholders. Bachrun can be contacted at kalimantan@email.com
Yayasan Muhammad Subuh
Founder/Patrons: Ibu Siti Rahayu Wiryohudojo & Ibu Siti Hardiyati Syafrudin
Chairperson: Ibu Sutinah Sudarsono
Secretary: Bapak Muhammad Kuswanda
Treasurer: Ibu Andrina Kustiwulan
Superivsor: Farlan Williams
Supervisor: Mahrus McKingley
MSF Rep: Olvia Reksodipoetro
PT Pancaran Cahaya BahagiaA
Directors: Y Diasmono (President), Amaliya Lerrigo, Sigit Dwihapso, M Mustafa Syafrudin. Komisaris: Hatanto Reksodipoetro.