Luh Ayu Manik Mas: Defender of the Environment

Luh Ayu Manik Mas: Defender of the Environment I Putu Supartika BASAbali

One morning, Luh Ayu Manik was very busy looking for something in the kitchen. "What are you looking for, Ayu?" her mother asked. "I’m looking for some plastic to wrap the offerings that I am taking to school," she replied. "My child, just use a small woven basket as a container … don’t use a plastic bag," her mother advised. "I’ll just use a plastic bag, Mom, so I can carry it easily," Luh Ayu Manik replied. After finding what she was looking for, she got ready and left for school.

When she got home that day, she decided to watch TV. As she was looking for something good to watch, she saw a commercial that caught her eye and she stopped. The aim of the commercial was to encourage Balinese people to reduce the use of plastic bags … particularly because there were new regulations about it. After watching a show that followed the commercial, she turned off the TV and got something to eat.

While she was eating, she wondered why she should use less plastic. Plastic had many uses, such as a bag for carrying shopping, and as a container for taking offerings to school when there was a full moon. Plus, using plastic made things easier. After you have used something, you just throw it in the trash, no fuss. She thought about these things all the way through her meal.

She kept thinking about the message she had seen on TV, so decided to talk to her mother about it. "Mom, I saw on television that we have to reduce the use of plastic bags. Why? Is plastic bad? " Her mother answered thoughtfully, "I don't know, Ayu. I use plastics bags every day too and until now there haven’t been any problems. Maybe the material used to make plastic has become hard to get.""Oh, I see." said Luh Ayu Manik. It's the first time I’d heard of it." Her mother nodded."It’s the first time I’ve heard about it too. Why don't you ask your teacher about it tomorrow." "OK, Mom … I will," Luh Ayu Manik replied.

The next day, when she arrived at school, Luh Ayu Manik headed straight for her classroom and greeted her teacher, Pak Budiadnyana. "Om Suastiastu, sir." "Om Suastiastu, Ayu," Pak Budi replied and asked, "What’s up?" She got right to the point. "Sir, I want to ask you about plastic. Yesterday I saw a commercial on TV that said we should reduce the use of plastic. Why is that, sir?" "Right now the Government is calling on us to reduce the use of plastic and plastic bags. This is because plastic, if dumped thoughtlessly, can pollute the environment, poison the fish in the ocean, and it takes a long time to decompose. This is unlike the leaves of trees that break down quickly." he explained.

"I often burn plastic at home, sir, and it is destroyed. What do you mean it takes a long time to decompose?" Luh Ayu Manik asked. "If plastic is burned the consequences are even worse. Breathing the fumes of burning plastic can be very bad for our health," Pak Budi explained. "Oh I see. Wow … plastic is really dangerous. Now I know." Luh Ayu Manik felt that she had learned an important lesson. But she still had more questions.

"What should we use instead of plastic, Pak?" she asked. "There are many possibilities, Ayu. If you go shopping at the market, just take a cloth bag. If you go to the temple, put your offerings in a woven container. Also, when going to request holy water, don’t use plastic but bring a container from home." Luh Ayu Manik realized she had used plastic for all of these things, and it would be easy to make a change. "From now on I’ll use less plastic. And I’ll tell my parents and friends about it too. "Yes, Luh, I hope our environment here has not already been contaminated with plastic," Pak Budi added. "Yes, I hope so too, Pak. Thank you for the advice."

The next day there was no school because of the holy day called Nyepi. Luh Ayu Manik and her friends were excited to see the parade of ogoh-ogoh for Pangrupukan. But first, Luh Ayu Manik's mother asked her to go the market to buy ingredients to make caru for the Balinese Hindu ceremony at home. The market was not far away, but she wanted a friend to chat with on the road, so she went looking for Putu Nika. Luh Ayu Manik remembered Pak Budi's words about plastic and decided to take a cloth bag with her. When she arrived at Putu Nita's house, Luh Ayu Manik called out, "Putu Nita, it’s Luh Ayu Manik. Let’s go to the market together!" Putu Nia answered, "Just minute, Ayu, I need to get a shopping bag first." Then Putu Nita appeared carrying a cloth bag for her shopping. "Let's go! Did you also see the commercial about using less plastic? I'm going to try and do my part."

On the way to the market, Luh Ayu Manik and Putu Nita stopped briefly in front of the bale angklung, the pavilion where the gamelan instruments were kept. The girls could see people from the youth group throwing plastic trash into the river. They also saw young men throwing away leftover foam from making ogoh-ogoh.

On their way home from the market, Luh Ayu Manik and Putu Nita saw Wayan and Made dumping plastic and foam in the river. It was such a large amount that they had to use a trailer. And it was not only leftovers from the ogoh-ogoh that were being thrown away, but all sorts of rubbish like plastic bottles, cans, and food wrappers made of plastic. There was so much garbage that the river became blocked! It began overflowing onto the road.

That evening as the sun sank low in the western sky, the Balinese Hindus were busy putting out caru and satus kutus offerings containing rice and the number 10 8a round their homes. Then they lit fires using dried coconut leaves and played loud music into the night.

Luh Ayu Manik and Putu Nita had promised each other that they would watch the ogoh-ogoh parade together. When it was time, Luh Ayu Manik quickly put on makeup, dressed in a sarong, and went to Putu Nita’s house to meet her. When they got to the main road, there were already a lot of people waiting to see the ogoh-ogoh. When the sinister giants with long, pointed tusks, messy hair, and long fingernails came down the street, everyone was amazed and also a little frightened. The scary faces of the ogoh-ogoh were supposed to make even evil spirits afraid. The cheers of the young people carrying the ogoh-ogoh were accompanied by the lively sounds of gamelan. It was a very exciting parade.

As the sky grew darker, all the ogoh-ogoh went back to where they came from. The streets became quiet again. Luh Ayu Manik and Putu Nita were on their way home when they were startled to see the young men who had been sitting around the bale angklung earlier, running all over the place, screaming in fear and calling for help. "Help … help," Wayan shouted. "There is an ogoh-ogoh that can walk. It came from the river. Its face is terrifying and its body is made entirely of plastic!"

The young men scattered in all directions, looking for a place to hide. Luh Ayu Manik could see that the giant’s face was really scary. It was as tall as an ogoh-ogoh, but its whole body was covered in plastic, foam, and plastic bottles. Its eyes burned like fire and its tongue was very long and touched the ground. Its fangs were long, pointed, and sharp. Seeing what was happening, Luh Ayu Manik told Putu Nita to hide in the bushes. Then, Luh Ayu Manik looked for a hiding place to change into the golden crown and golden clothes of Luh Ayu Manik Mas.

The terrible plastic giant spat fire at everything it saw. It scorched plants and the earth shook as it lurched toward the young men. Rushing forward, Luh Ayu Manik Mas pulled out a sword that could spray water and extinguish the fire. The young men were all afraid and could only watch. Once the fire was extinguished, the plastic giant roared "Arrghh...you humans are all the same! You throw trash thoughtlessly into this sacred river. Look what you have brought upon yourselves! After today, you must look after this river so that is always clean and unpolluted. Now...clean this place...quickly!!"

Then, the plastic giant's red eyes disappeared into the night. Luh Ayu Manik Mas quickly changed back into Luh Ayu Manik and callled her, Putu Nita. They went straight home and told their parents what had happened.

The next day, on the day called Ngembak Geni, Luh Ayu Manik called all her friends together to clean up the river. They would never let the giant return again.