A year ago, in the middle of 2009, I was given a chance by my campus to show my loyalty to my country, as known as K2N, Kuliah Kerja Nyata or Real Lecture and Work. The 2009 K2N wasn’t a common one because we were asked to do something for one remote area in the northest area in Indonesia, Miangas.
At that time, I was still an active student in campus. My experience in Miangas for a month made me make the decision to nail my dream to take Miangas as my thesis topic. At first, many people refused it, mostly because of the location which is very far away, but I still tried. But then, January weather wasn’t support me. Finally I went there in April 2010.
There were many things that made me interested in observing Miangas. I am sure one day every people in Indonesia will give their attention to Miangas, just like they did on Sipadan-Ligitan islands (the islands that were in conflict with Malaysia –red). Miangas is the northest island in Indonesia, it is the island that borders Indonesia and The Phillipines. To go to The Phillipines only took 2,5 hours by boat, meanwhile to go to the surrounding islands which are in Indonesia area, like Tahuna and Melonguane, it took for about 24 hours.
But the access to that closest area was limited by Indonesian Government because of the worrisome of The Phillipines ruled Miangas. The conflict between Indonesia and The Phillipines was related to the waters between Miangas Island (Indonesia) and Mindanao Beach (Phillipines), also about the bottom of the sea between Balut Island (Phillipines) and Sulawesi Sea Beach which goes for less than 400 miles distance.
The ownership of Miangas Island by Indonesia resulted from 1928 Arbitrage Judicature in Den Haag. Phillipines was still using the explanation that Las Palmas (Phillipines version of Miangas) was in the square position based on 1898 Paris Treaty and this was backed by the finding of Pardao (monument) of Magelhaens landing on that island in 1512. That’s why The Phillipines claimed Miangas several times and proposed the island to United Nation UNCLOS as part of their territory. I was very interested in analising this case.
From Jakarta, I flew to Manado. The standard plane ticket was about Rp 700.000. If ordered days before the price would cost Rp 500.000. After I arrived in Manado, I took ‘black’ taxi for Rp 120.000 until Bitung. Mostly the taxi was ‘mobil sedan’ which is usually parked in front of the airport. Rp 120.000 was the standard price. Usually the drivers would asked for Rp 150.000 if he saw the attitude of the passenger was like first time coming to Manado. No need to worry about the criminal rate there, it is guaranteed that Manado is saved for new comer. The people are nice.
The ride took around 2-3 hours. Along the journey, the common view was many restaurants selling many foods like bat’s meat, mouse, pig and dog. On the left and right of the road there were many coconut trees.
From Bitung I took Meliku Nusa boat, sat on the deck, like other passangers. Actually there were rented rooms on this boat but I chose deck because I only had to pay Rp 50.000. It needed extra fee to enter the room.
I kept sitting, looking at the sea and observing people around me. If I got bored, I talked to other passangers. They told me about the islands group that we had through. The islands was beautiful. They would feel happy if newcomer who sees it would tell it to other people so that the story would spread. For me, they were pretty nice to strangers like me.
There was something wrong with the boat. No one sold food. I thought the condition would be like in economy train in Java that is full with food seller. It turned out to be a big false! Well, there was food seller on the deck, but it was complicated for me because I brought many stuffs.
I prefered to stay sit and hold this hunger. One big mistake because of the wrong assumption. One day I hold my hunger until the boat moored in Tahuna Island. I went straight to search for food. Not many choices and the price was very expensive! One wrap of rice contained of egg and noodle priced Rp 25.000. Argh! Wished I brought foods from Manado or Bitung, it would be cheaper. Everything was expensive, including mineral water. But what could I do? I had to bought it. I bought many foods for my supplies on boat.
