Beyond the Pinhole

 (Created as an assignment for The Urban Writers)

The year is 2031. A decade ago, we would never expect that human beings could reach this place, 173284 Eros, an exoplanet orbiting a double-star system in the M51 Whirlpool galaxy. Well, no one was ever expected to end up like this, leaving the Earth after 75 percent of its population was swept away by the plague. I became one of 32 astronauts sent on a mission to find a new Earth after 21 countries that survived the plague agreed to spend all of their military budgets on this mission. There’s no use to weaponized the military anyway, as there is no reason left to fight against each other. It’s our mission now.

The last memory I had was closing the hatch of the cryo-chamber after setting the spaceship on autopilot mode and expected to land on 173284 Eros in three years. The cryo-chamber was opened as I opened my eyes, and I was surrounded by six oddly-looking creatures. They look like a human, but with a large head and green fur covering their body. They seem like a hybrid of humans and The Grinch.

“Who are you?”

I startled. They spoke our language!

“Who are you?” I asked them back.

“Are you from Earth?”

“Yes.”

They helped me out of the chamber without answering my question.

“Who are you?” I asked again.

Still no answer.

I stood up carefully. The instruction says my feet will feel trembling after years of staying inside the cryo-chamber. To my surprise, I didn’t feel it at all. I stood up straight right after I came out of the chamber. It felt peculiar.

“Please follow me,” said one of them.

I slowly walked out of the spaceship and felt the soft grass touching my feet. Outside, I saw the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen, not even on Earth. There were two suns on top of my head, but they were not as bright as our sun. I am standing on a field, a beautifully landscaped field sprawl with lush vegetation.

Suddenly, I felt something soft brushing my right leg. I looked down and, to my surprise, I saw a pair of dodo birds walk past by. Yes, dodo birds. The bird went extinct in 1662.

“Look to your right,” one of the green creatures said.

I looked to my right, and, lo and behold, three northern white rhinos were eating the grass under the tree. On the tree branch, eight Spix macaws were chirping and enjoying the nice weather. Both of these species were declared extinct decades ago.

“We saved them.”

The green man pointed his finger to the tree. Two Spix macaws flew and landed on his hand.

“They were never extinct. We saved them.”

“What do you mean you saved them?”

“If you think your mission was started two days ago, you were wrong. They secretly started it in 2022. We were the first ones to be sent on that mission. We landed on this planet, found a source of water, then built an environment.”

“So you were here since 2022?”

“Yes. Six of us have been here since 2022.”

“But these animals were extinct way before that.”

“Once we built an environment, we went back to Earth and traveled back in time to save them.”

“Why did you do that?”

“Because they deserve it. They need to leave the planet filled with greedy people and live freely here.”

“Wait, so you are a human being?”

“Yes.”

“But what happened to your body? Also, what do you mean my mission was started two days ago? I was set to land here in three years.”

He smiled.

“They also told us that we will reach this place in three years. They don’t know that there’s a pinhole portal at the exosphere that will launch every object directly to this galaxy within seconds. It was so small, no one knew it existed but us, the only human beings that survived through it. Although...”

He paused.

“...it will change us forever.”

He sighed. His eyes are gazing towards the fields.

“It will mutate our DNA, transforming our body into a green alien with thick fur covering our body.”

“Why do the animals still look the same?”

“That… we still have to find the answer. We’ve been through years of research, but nothing has come up. At least, they are safe now. Save from the cruel human and their greediness. Thanks to that pinhole in the exosphere, we could travel back in time and save them.”

We walked further into the fields. An Araucarioxylon arizonicum tree stood tall on my left side as if it never left the Earth since millions of years ago. The tree towered as high as 60 meters and measured more than 60 centimeters. A group of Passenger Pigeons perched on its branches. Mass deforestation in North America took away their habitat. Millions of them died after their meat was commercialized as a portion of cheap food for the poor. In the early 20th century, they were officially extinct.

“One more thing.”

He looked at me and sighed. His eyes are staring deep into my soul.

“Whoever entered the pinhole will live forever.”

“That includes me?”

“Yes.”

“You are safe with us here. You are part of us now.”

“B-but… if you were mutated after you passed through the pinhole, why didn’t it happen to me? Nothing changed in me.”

He smiled and said, “It will happen slowly in a few days. Now, come with me. We have prepared a dinner for you.”

He grabbed my shoulder, then led me to a big hut on the side of the field.

***

Inside the hut, five green creatures gathered around a cauldron. Saliva drips down from their mouth. They haven’t tasted human flesh in a year. On the wall, there was an astronaut helmet. Inside it, a human skull belongs to an astronaut that landed last year.

I guess I will never leave.

Deaf and mute young Indonesian fashion designer Rafi Ridwan, who held first his show when only nine, now wants to help other disabled children

This article was published in the South China Morning Post, August 3, 2020.

Also appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as:

Young disabled designer’s plan to help children dealt a severe blow

Link to article

Rafi Ridwan became one of the youngest fashion designers ever in Indonesia at the age of nine when he held his first fashion show in collaboration with one of Indonesia’s most famous designers, Barli Asmara, in 2011.

He was all set to launch his latest project earlier this year – a fashion and culinary workshop for disabled children – but the now 18-year-old’s plans were scuppered when floods struck several parts of Indonesia in January, just a few days after he had returned from a fashion show he had held in the US state of Texas.

His home in Bekasi, a city on the eastern border of Jakarta, was submerged in waist-high water. Rafi and his family spent almost a week cleaning up their home, but the building where the workshop was to be held, close to his house, had almost sunk below ground.

“When we got in [our house] after the flood receded, everything was in disarray,” says Shinta Handayani, Rafi’s mother. “Metres of traditional fabrics we bought from all across Indonesia were destroyed. A computer was lying on the kitchen floor. The worst part was Rafi’s award certificates and media clippings were drowned in mud. It broke my heart to see my son trying to hold back his tears.”

Rafi’s certificates, sketchbooks, and other memorabilia, destroyed by the floods in Indonesia.

For Rafi, those items had marked his tough journey through thick and thin.

Rafi was born deaf and mute. One day, he asked his mother: “What is sound?” She explained to him that sound is just like colours: there are many variations, some bold, some soft. Rafi then started to apply intense, contrasting colours to his drawings.

“Then one day, he watched The Little Mermaid and asked, why Ariel doesn’t wear proper clothes?” Shinta says. “So, I told him to make some for her. He created sketches of dresses inspired by Ariel and that’s when his journey into fashion began.”

Rafi at Jakarta Fashion Week 2012.

Many sketches later, Shinta and her husband, Ridwan, decided to show Rafi the professional side of the fashion industry. They took him to fashion shows and met some famous Indonesian designers who shared their insights on the fashion world. His sketches drew Barli’s attention, who then asked him for a collaboration for his next fashion show. Rafi’s sketches became reality for the first time, in the form of beautiful dresses worn by models.

Only a few months after the show, Rafi showed his collection at Jakarta Fashion Week, gaining more attention from Indonesian and international media. In 2013, he was chosen by American TV host Tyra Banks to create a collection for an America’s Next Top Model photo shoot in Bali. “That was the most memorable moment from my journey as a fashion designer,” Rafi says.

Rafi and his mother Shinta (left) preparing for a fashion in El Paso, Texas.

It hasn’t all been glitz and glam, though, with Rafi often facing discrimination for his age and disability. “Some people thought his fame and achievement happened not because he’s talented, but only because he’s young and deaf,” Shinta says.

In 2014, for example, one of Rafi’s shows was scheduled to be the finale at one of the most prestigious fashion events in Jakarta. Before the event, however, officials swapped the line-up and gave the spot to a senior designer. They were worried that no one would come to a fashion show from a child designer, according to sources. But despite the schedule change, Rafi’s show still attracted the biggest audience of the event.

Undeterred by discrimination, Rafi has continued to build his career. Besides Jakarta, he has also showed his designs in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, Melbourne in Australia, and California and Texas in the US.

Having successfully built a fashion career from a very young age, Rafi wanted to share his knowledge and empower disabled children through his now on-hold workshop.

“We’re concerned about the fact that disabled children will have limited career options once they graduate from school,” Shinta says. “We’re trying to help them to learn new skills that are beneficial for their future.”

The workshop was supposed to be launched on Rafi’s 18th birthday this July, but after the flood, and the Covid-19 pandemic, the plan has been pushed back indefinitely.

“I feel wrecked, stressed out,” Rafi says. “Sometimes I think it’s a sign from God that this is the end of my career. I don’t know how to get the funds to rebuild the workshop. But I keep reminding myself how I worked hard since I was nine to reach my dream as a designer. It would be a waste if I quit.”

Despite the incident, he will continue to inspire more disabled children in Indonesia.

“No matter where we came from, no matter what disability we have, it’s important to work hard and reach our dream,” Rafi says. “So don’t be afraid to dream big.”

The Fashion Heroines

(This article was published in Female Magazine Indonesia, April 2015.

Link to the original article.)

They challenged the obstacles to contribute to Indonesia’s fashion industry. With limitless creativity, imagination, and sincerity, they became our very own fashion heroines. These are the story of Shinta Ayu Handayani, a loving mother who raised her deaf son to be the youngest fashion designer in Indonesia; Irna Mutiara, a fashion designer who mentors students in Kudus; and Julia Hadi, a designer who brought back memories through jewelry.

SHINTA AYU HANDAYANI: TEACHING SOUND THROUGH COLOURS

Having a child with special needs is not the end of the world, said Shinta Ayu Handayani, mother of Rafi Ridwan, the youngest fashion designer in Indonesia. When Shinta was pregnant with her child Rafi 12 years ago, she was infected with the Rubella virus in the first trimester of her pregnancy. Doctors gave her a choice to continue the pregnancy with the risk of having a disabled child or abort the baby. She only had three days to consider until she finally decided to continue the pregnancy. July 20, 2002, little Rafi was born with hearing and speech impairment. Even so, Shinta was grateful to know that the virus doesn’t affect his sight. “I was hoping that Rafi has healthy eyes so he can explore the world,” she said.

Rafi grew up to be an energetic and cheerful little boy until one day, he asked a question Shinta will never forget. “Mom, what does sound like?” asked Rafi with sign language. “It saddened me at first, but then I finally explain to him that sound is like colors; there’s plenty of them. Some are cheerful, some are dark,” said Shinta. Rafi’s introduction to fashion began with his obsession with watching The Little Mermaid. He then asked another question, why Ariel doesn’t wear any clothes? Shinta encouraged Rafi to create a clothing design for the mermaid princess. He took his colored pencils and started to draw costumes in all shapes and colors. Blends of bright colors and detailed prints became the identity of his design up to this day. For Rafi, colors seemed to be his voice through silence. It is how he communicates and expresses his feelings.

Rafi’s further introduction to the fashion industry continued when he was nine. He won the I Got Talent contest organized by the I-Hear Foundation, a foundation for children with hearing loss. Within the same year, Shinta invited Rafi to Jakarta Fashion and Food Festival. “He was very enthusiastic to meet famous designers. We spent the day taking pictures with them,” said this mother of three.

Indonesian celebrity designer Barli Asmara, heard about the young boy’s passion for fashion. He organized a trunk show as a debut for Rafi and invited his clientele. Although the show only features seven of Rafi’s designs, it helps him reach some prominent people in the business. It took a year for him to finally stand on the runway of Jakarta Fashion Week, in a fashion show created in collaboration with Nonita Respati from Purana Batik and Ariani Pradjasaputra from Aarti, an ethnic accessories brand.

It doesn’t stop there. Rafi was invited to showcase his designs in Kuala Lumpur and Melbourne. Even Tyra Banks chose him to design some outfits worn by the contestants of America’s Next Top Models cycle 20.

IRNA MUTIARA: FINDING TALENTS IN KUDUS

She is one of the most prominent Muslim fashion designers in Indonesia, but she doesn’t want to enjoy success all by herself. In collaboration with Djarum Bakti Pendidikan from Djarum Foundation, Irna Mutiara shared her knowledge through education programs for fashion students at SMK NU Banat Kudus, Central Java. In a dress-making class for high school students, Irna acted as a mentor for the teaching staff and assisted in improving their fashion curriculum in September 2014.

The fashion department of SMK NU Banat Kudus is equipped with new and upgraded tools and materials, including Optitex Fashion CAD, a software for fashion design and pattern making in 3D, which is also widely used by top designers in Indonesia. Irna, who has been a designer since 1996, revealed that she wants to find the next big talent by giving them adequate equipment. “We have a growing number in the fashion industry, especially in the Muslim fashion. We can develop so many things in the Muslim fashion business, creating new clothing, veils, and accessories. As long as they can understand the ins and outs of the process, they will improve,” she said.

Irna started her career after getting her degree in fashion major from the Institute of Teacher Training and Education (now Indonesia University of Education) at Bandung in 1990. She worked as a designer in garment companies, then built her fashion brand in 1996. In 2006, Irna founded Trimoda Uptodate Group, the home of Indonesian Muslim fashion label Up2date. A year later, she released Irna La Perle, a bridal line with modest bridal gowns mixed in Western-style.

Through the fashion education program in SMK NU Banat Kudus, Irna hoped for more new designers from Indonesia that will compete in the global fashion industry. “I believe, one day, there will be a talented designer from SMK NU Banat Kudus who represents Indonesia to compete in the global fashion industry,” said the designer, a member of the Indonesian Fashion Designers and Entrepreneurs Association (APPMI).

JULIA HADI: OLD JEWELRY, NEW TASTE

“I am not a jeweler. I am a jewelry designer and an artist,” said Julia, opening our conversation. “I started designing for 12 years, while the business itself has been going on for 26 years since I was in college.”

It started from helping her mother organizing social gatherings, where she often met some of her mother’s socialite best friends. “My passion for jewelry started since I was a child. I am used to seeing my mother wear jewelry every day. I also wear jewelry at school and I got reprimanded a lot."

Her love for jewelry has grown bigger than she developed a boutique located in the Menara Batavia office building in Jakarta that houses a collection of luxury jewelry. She sells jewelry that she designed herself, also provides custom design and reconstructing old jewelry. “I saw some friends who spent a great deal of money to buy jewelry to match their outfits or wear old jewelry from their grandmothers on their wedding day. I said, give me your jewelry, and I will make it shine like new.”

Julia also saw a rising trend of custom-made jewelry. She believes custom jewelry should be made based on the client’s character. “There are three important things when making custom jewelry: education, satisfaction, and pattern. Just like clothes, jewelry also has its pattern. An earring, for example, should be designed based on the user’s ear shape,” said Julia, who moved to the United States in 2010.

There is a reason why she decided to manage her business from her office, not shopping malls. She wants to spend more time with her children. “Many people told me to open a boutique at the mall, but then I will have to leave my children for hours, following the store’s operational hours,” she said.

Now that her children have grown up, she has more time to manage her business, but she still doesn’t want to expand her business by renting spaces in shopping malls. Her boutique stays in Menara Batavia, a 32-story building in Central Jakarta, facing the incredible views of Jakarta’s skyscrapers. “I love to enjoy the city view while working. It feels relaxing,” Julia said.