INDONESIA: Sesame Street moves to Indonesia
Updated
Sesame Street is the longest running television show in entertainment history, reaching millions of children in over 120 countries. Filming of the Indonesian version, 'Jalan Sesama', has begun in the capital Jakarta. With its focus on literacy, cultural diversity and environmental degradation the program will fill a yawning gap in the local children's television market.
Presenter: Katie Hamann
Speakers: Mohammad Zudhi, education consultant, Jalan Sesama
HAMANN: From Mexico to Bangladesh millions of children across the world are united in their love of furry creatures that can dance and sing. There are at least 120 incarnations of Sesame Street, the world's longest running television program. And later this year the Indonesian version, Jalan Sesama, will be beaming into living rooms across the archipelago. By happy coincidence 'Jalan Sesama' translates as Everyone's Street, a title that sits comfortably with the program's emphasis upon diversity and pluralism. Mohammad Zudhi is the program's education consultant.
ZUDHI: We will invite a lot of guest stars from different backgrounds - so, diversity in terms of society, diversity in terms of different community. But also the basic idea of diversity is how people can accept other people who are different in many ways, in many respects. They might have different ideas, they might have different skin colours, they might have different language, they might have different physical appearance - so there are a lot of differences people have. This is something we want to address our children because it's still a problem in our society to accept differences.
HAMANN: The US Agency for International Development has set aside $US8.5 million for Jalan Sesama, which is being developed in partnership with the New York-based Sesame Workshop. It's just a fraction of the $157 million pledged by the Bush administration in 2003 for education programs in Indonesia. The package is part of Washington's embrace of the world's most populous Muslim nation, seen as a voice of moderation and beacon of democracy. Jalan Sesama's Indonesian producers have full creative control but Mohammad Zudhi says some religious boundaries remain off limits, at least for now.
ZUDHI: We had a seminar last year about the curriculum of Jalan Sesama and even some of our advisors asked us not to address the specific issue of religion, rather the issue of pluralism within the society. So why don't you, for example, ask one Catholic or Christian guest star to say 'Selamat Aidilfitri' to a Muslim and ask one Muslim guest star to say 'Merry Christmas' to one Christian. But we are aware that that's a very sensitive issue, we don't want to address that especially in our first season.
HAMANN: Like the American version with its brownstone tenements, chunky fire hydrants and yellow cabs Jalan Sesama has a distinctly Indonesian flavour. It's kampong, or village, setting is typical of urban and remote neighbourhoods, with a pick up point for 'ojek' taxi motorcycles, a snack vendor's cart and even a Doctor Gigi, or dentist. In smog-filled Jakarta however, you're less likely to see the backdrop of towering volcanoes and lush green trees. Traditional gamelan instruments, singing in local dialects and even a travelling wayang puppet will also be incorporated into the show.
SFX: Puppets talking
HAMANN: With rhino and orangutan populations nearing extinction in the wild in Indonesia, Jabrik the one-horned, purple headed rhino and the flame haired Tantan, a wise old orangutan are ideal ambassadors for messages about conservation, a concept little understood in remote regions. It's hoped that reaching out to young and impressionable minds may lay the foundations for a more sustainable and all embracing Indonesia.
