Revitalizing Our Roots with Singgih Kartono

While villages are stereotypically known to produce low quality products, Singgih Kartono gives a different perspective on this topic through his product creations, which utilize resources from the village. To The Public Book, he shares about his projects, the reason behind them, and his insights about the future of villages.

1. Can you tell us why you started the Spedagi project?

The Spedagi project was actually created by accident. At the time, I was dealing with a case of high cholesterol levels, and it inspired me to create the bamboo bicycle, which utilizes a material that I really understand and is often found in the village. That bicycle then gave birth to a social movement which is the village revitalization movement.

2. What is the meaning of a village to you? What are the problems that villages are currently facing?

The village is a community with a self-sustaining and sustainable design. I learned to see it from that perspective. It has a territory that is not very large, a population, and a culture. They have their own resources too, not just food sources, but also materials for clothing, and they can even build their own houses.

This is different from the city, as the city takes resources from other places. The truth is, almost all countries were originally village-based nations. This is because cities are essentially meeting points for villages that need something they don’t have.

The current problem is that there is a situation of boredom. When people in the village are met with the city, they are confronted with new things that appear very appealing. There are many novelties, things that make life easier, and there are many things that are visually attractive. 

As a result, the village–which is actually just fine–begins to look unappealing. People who have lived in the village for a long time start to feel uncomfortable and inferior. This is the problem in villages today. And what we really need is to revitalize them.

3. What does the village currently need to develop so that people become aware of its potential?

There are various things that need to be done. From the perspective of a civil citizen like myself, what I do is encourage people to see the village from a new point of view through the projects I undertake. I show from my projects that the best products in Indonesia actually come from the village.

Almost all of my projects have a strong village theme because what I do is implement ideas about the potentials and problems of the village. We can achieve something extraordinary if we seriously work on them, because the village is a place with immense potential. It has only lost its thinkers because most of the people who go to university from the village do not return home due to low job vacancies for them in the village. 

4. What do you think about the current industrialization happening in Indonesia?

It is actually very sad if we become an industrial nation while other countries have already moved on to the post-industrial era. Pursuing industrial status carries high risks, it costs a lot, and by the time we reach that era, developed countries will have already entered the post-industrial era, making it outdated. 

If we continue to chase industrialization, we will inevitably face the same problems: depopulation, high stress, and the value of time becoming very expensive, yet unattainable. Not everything in developed countries is good.

Therefore, according to what I see, Indonesia should not follow developed countries to achieve industrial status, but rather return to the same values. I refer to these values as the line of spirituality.

5. What is the meaning of spirituality?

Spirituality means a balance between material and spirituality. It means that spiritual values cannot be separated from daily life.

If we return to spirituality, we will go directly to a point where values are aligned, and we can maintain our old values that are actually very good. We need to broaden our perspectives; and sometimes we have to leave the village to see things like this.

“We need to realize that what we have is actually good, with quality on par with theirs.”

As shared with Suksan Yosela

August 2024 – Indonesia’s Future Makers

Images courtesy of @singgihskartono 

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