Exposure to the full advantage of technology

Technology may have both positive and negative implications, but some people clearly prefer to focus on the positive.

The Indonesian chapter of computer technology inventor Intel recently launched two short documentary films that portrayed how musicians and batik designers successfully use computer technology and the Internet to get recognized.

Norhizam Abdul Kadir, the company’s head of marketing, said the two short films are part of a global movement titled Warnai Hidupmu (Color Your Life).

“This is a movement that can inspire millions of other talented people in Indonesia to attain their goals. Technology can simplify our work and enrich our cultural heritage,” he said.

The two documentary films feature Yogyakarta-based musicians who develop hip-hop songs in Javanese, and fractal batik designer Nancy Margried, respectively. They prove that technology can be a powerful tool toward success and preserving traditions at the same time.

“During the first six years of our establishment, we found great difficulty in penetrating the mainstream media, such as television and radio. They did not want to play our songs,” said Marzuki Muhammad, singer and founder of Jogja Hip-Hop Foundation.

The foundation received positive feedback after they uploaded their music on social media sites. Now, it is easy to find them on the Internet, as their official website along with some YouTube videos and a Facebook page pop up right after you enter their name in Google’s search engine.

Computers have become part of our lives as we need them to produce music, Marzuki said. The group grew up with the technology, starting with the use of a disk operating system for personal computers, and then on to subsequent modern operating systems.

“It’s currently impossible to work without computers. Technology has enabled us to record and compile gamelan sounds and save them to the computer,” he said.

The process to make their video clips is not complicated either. The foundation members make use of their gadgets to record cultural events and daily life, store them and assemble them to create their musical video clips – all done in a few clicks.

Jogja Hip-Hop Foundation quickly stole the hearts of people in Yogyakarta. The use of ancient Javanese literature Surat Centhini as a part of their song lyrics has become a signature of their strong commitment to preserving tradition.

From an unknown group of people who loved to sing hip-hop music in Javanese, they slowly grew to getting noticed at the international level.

They have been invited by a number of cultural and arts centers to perform in Australia, the United States and Europe, thanks to the rapid spread of praise for them on the Internet. Want to know how people abroad reacted to their music?

“Our recent performance in New York city was a blast. People moved along with the music even though they had no idea about our Javanese lyrics,” Marzuki said.

Marzuki and his friends are not alone. Nancy Margried and her friends suddenly found themselves as fractal batik designers after creating software that can transform mathematic formulas into exquisite batik patterns.

“Our software can help simplify the arduous work of batik makers without reducing the essence of making handmade batik,” she said.

The software, she said, can create new batik patterns with the click of a mouse and, therefore, it attracts people to buy the latest variations. Nancy has held numerous workshops for about 200 batik producers in various towns around the country, including Pekalongan in Central Java, and Pacitan in East Java.

The documentary films featuring Nancy and the Jogja Hip-Hop Foundation have been broadcast on some local television stations and can be viewed on social networking sites, such as Facebook.

Intel Indonesia is not alone in promoting the use of technology. Last month, Google Indonesia announced its plan to launch its maiden campaign in Indonesia, Jadikan Internet Seluas Kreasimu (Make the Internet as Wide as your Creativity), to encourage people to further explore the powers of the Internet.

Although Internet users in the country, including computer and smartphone users, only account for around 14 percent of the population, Indonesia has one of the biggest followings of Twitter and Facebook in the world.

The Communications and Information Ministry has set a target to increasing Internet use by up to 50 percent by 2015.