Calling himself “Super Isoman" — a play on the word isoman (self-isolation) — the man behind the mask, Agus Widanarko, devotes himself to entertaining and educating children during these tough pandemic days.

Talking exclusively to The Jakarta Post via Zoom on Aug. 18, Agus explains why he feels compelled to do what he does.

“Children are often forgotten during those 14 days of self-isolation; they may be affected psychologically,” the 40-year-old said. “Many get bored and agitated with their parents at home. For really young children, you can’t reason with them yet and they can't understand why their parents don't sleep with them during self-isolation."

That’s where Agus comes in. Wearing a superhero costume bearing gifts, balloons and storybooks, he visits self-isolating children at their homes, plays with them and reads to them. But more importantly, he explains the health protocols and tells the children to behave.

And it works. Well, most of the time.

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“There was this kid, he was a bit older, probably around 10 years old. I came in a Spiderman costume and he got upset because he was more of a fan of Gatot Kaca [a character from wayang, or shadow puppet theater]. I got told off,” he said, laughing.

“But it was fine, I came back the next day as Gatot Kaca and it went well."

Sometimes, Agus would also go out of his way to tailor his approach just to make a specific child happy. On Aug. 17, one particular child wished to celebrate Indonesia's Independence Day properly.

“We had a ceremony in his yard, had the national flag hoisted and sang Indonesia Raya,” he said. “We also played several games typically played on Independence Day, such as balap kelereng [marble racing]. He had a blast.”

Devotion: Agus Widanarko has devoted his life to raising awareness about the dangers of drugs. (Personal collection/Courtesy of Agus Widanarko)

Agus began to upload photos of these visits to social media, and soon enough, he was bombarded with requests from parents asking for his service. At the height of the delta variant wave of COVID-19 infections, Agus could visit 20 houses a week — all funded with his own money.

Fortunately, these days, he doesn’t have to anymore. Many parents whose children he entertained felt indebted and sent him toys, snacks and supplies to be given to the next children he visits.

“Alhamdulillah [praise be to God], it was like a domino effect,” Agus said. “If we can learn anything from the pandemic, it's the importance of gotong royong [mutual cooperation], caring for others and kindness.”

Superisoman went viral and reached the ears of families in other cities in Java such as Cirebon in West Java and Klaten and Semarang in Central Java. Obviously unable to visit, he ended up reading stories to children using video calls.

From nightclubs to antidrugs counseling

Before devoting himself to social causes, Agus lived a completely different life. He once worked for an event organizer as part of the road management team for bands and artists, moving from one city to the next, before landing a job managing a nightclub. Although not a user himself, he was surrounded by people selling and consuming narcotics at the club he worked at. Many of his friends either overdosed or got arrested by the police.

Feeling guilty and wanting to redeem himself, he came home to Sukoharjo and became a volunteer for the National Narcotics Agency (BNN). Agus started advocating against drugs by himself, talking to youth organizations, sellers at traditional markets and even homeless children.

In 2014, on International Day Against Drug Abuse, Agus was one of two antidrug activists who received an award from then-vice president Boediono.

He then teamed up with friends who were once drug users and formed Danar and the Blangkon, a musical group spreading antidrug messages while wearing traditional Javanese attire, including a blangkon (traditional Javanese cap). A few years later, the group would share the stage with legendary rock band Slank as part of the government’s antidrug campaign.

A man of costumes

Because of his likable personality, Agus was also tasked with talking to kindergarten children about the danger of gadgets, addiction to online games and snacks with coloring chemicals.

At first, he would dress neatly in a suit.

“They thought I was a salesperson,” he said, chuckling.

The next time around, he arrived wearing costumes, from Superman to local iconic characters such as Gatot Kaca. Agus also started telling stories and folktales to these children, a skill he gained from having a puppeteer father who used to tell him stories. 

Again, the children loved it.

Read also: Pandemic response should be child-friendly: Save the Children

Agus would continue his story-telling endeavor, but this time, bringing his wife (girlfriend at the time).

“If I was dressed as the Blue Ranger, she would dress as the Pink Ranger; if I was Gundala, she was Gundili; if I was Batman, she was Batgirl,” he said. “The money I made from talking at seminars, I used to buy costumes."

It turned out to be a good investment. Even when the pandemic rolled around and put Agus and his wife out of work, he still found ways to use these costumes.

The couple started selling staple food ingredients online, and to anyone who bought more than 25 kilograms worth of rice, the rice would be delivered by — you guessed it — Spiderman.

“Many sellers ended up buying tons of rice just so their children could take a picture with Spiderman,” he said. “They didn’t even check the product when I got there.”