Splashes of Blessings from Mt. Rinjani
Sukarno
Sukarno was inspired to craft Rinjani-themed souvenirs for other hikers on account of his love for hiking Mount Rinjani. As his business bloomed, he expressed his gratitude by setting aside a portion of his revenue for hikers and nature preservation efforts on Rinjani.
The sky over Lombok Island, West Nusa Tenggara, on Saturday (4/2/2017) was a little cloudy. From afar, in Bug-Bug hamlet, Bug-Bug village, Lingsar district, West Lombok, Mt. Rinjani shyly showed off a portion of its panoramic vistas amid the shroud of clouds.
“It was the mountain that inspired me to build this business,” said Sukarno, 43, who crafts souvenirs for hikers, including colorful bracelets, key chains from coconut shells and jamplung fruit (Calophyllum inophyllum), scarves and T-shirts. All of the products are Rinjani-themed. The T-shirts, for instance, have pictures of Rinjani and the Segara Anaklake (Rinjani’s caldera) or locations along the hiking route.
One of the T-shirts has a picture of Bukit Penyesalan (Hill of Regrets), which is popular among hikers. On the hill, usually used as a resting spot when hiking Rinjani, hikers usually feel regret as the peak of Rinjani is still far away and yet they have come too far to turn back. Popular comments on the hill are now immortalized as writings on the T-shirts, including “I cannot yet move on from Rinjani” or “Never Feel Regret when Hiking Rinjani”.
Sukarno’s souvenirs are sold at his own shops and at a network of several other souvenir shops around Lombok. He also sent the souvenirs to a number of other regions, including Jakarta, Bandung, Bogor, Malang and Makassar. Domestic and foreign mountain climbers are among his customers.
Before entering the souvenir business, Sukarno once worked as a nurse with the status of a civil servant in then East Timor between 1992 and 1997. At the time, East Timor was still part of Indonesia.
When working in East Timor, he used to walk over hills to provide health care for locals. After traversing difficult terrain, Sukarno always felt refreshed. He then realized that he loved climbing hills and mountains.
In 1998, he went back home and served at the community health center in Lingsar. He continued his hobby of climbing mountain. He set his eyes particularly on the 3,276-meter Mt. Rinjani. Once in 2006, a hiker colleague said, “Mt. Rinjani is so huge and yet no one is selling souvenirs from Rinjani.”
The comment inspired Sukarno to produce Rinjani-themed souvenirs. In the same year, he created a brand of souvenirs called Pernak-Pernik Asli Rinjani (abbreviated Pasir and meaning Rinjani Original Trinkets). The set included colorful bracelets, Mt. Rinjani stickers and other knickknacks. He started it all with only Rp 100,000 (US$7.5) he set aside from his monthly salary.
Selling souvenirs on the mountain
In order to market his products, Sukarno at first hiked the mountain. He visited rest areas, met and talked with hikers while offering his souvenirs. Some of them were interested and bought the souvenirs right away. Some others visited his home later and bought the products there. Their prices vary between Rp 10,000 and Rp 150,000.
On Saturdays and Sundays, Sukarno distributes his products to souvenir sellers in Senaru Post (North Lombok) and Sembalun Post (East Lombok), the two entrance gates to Rinjani’s hiking routes. Recently, he has also targeted markets in other regions, including in Mt. Kerinci in Jambi and Mt. Semeru in East Java.
At the base camp in Mt. Semeru, he managed to sell all the souvenirs that he brought along in no time at all. He used the opportunity to establish a business network with the traders at the Semeru hiking route’s entrance gate. Nowadays, he routinely sends 4,000 bracelets to souvenir sellers in Mt. Semeru every week.
Sukarno needed three years to effectively penetrate the market for hikers. During that time, his business stagnated due to difficulties in funding. In 2009, his business began to bloom. Clients continuously flocked to his shop. From June to August, guests to his shop must queue to enter as his shop is only 5 by 3 square meters.
As his business flourished, Sukarno was able to provide jobs for people in his village. Nowadays, he employs six people. Beyond them, many other individuals, including shop and stall owners and motorcycle taxi drivers also benefit from his business.
Sukarno
Free of charge
Sukarno said his average daily revenue was Rp 1 million. In the peak tourism season, he can get up to Rp 4 million a day. He used a portion of his profit to develop his business and another portion to help Rinjani hikers.
He built a rest area for hikers who wish to take a rest, stay the night, pray or take a bath before or after hiking the mountain. All of these services are free of charge. The rest area is almost always full of domestic and foreign hikers, especially from South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, Germany and Australia.
He also spares time to educate hikers and locals in Rinjani. He campaigns on the importance of bringing your own garbage bags while hiking and initiated cleanup activities in Rinjani. He teaches high school nature lovers to preserve Rinjani’s nature through fun camping activities.
He immortalized his conservation spirit in the triangular symbol on all of his products. The triangle, for him, represents nature, God and mankind (or “alam, Tuhan dan manusia”, abbreviated as ATM, in Indonesian).
This ATM symbol means harmony between mankind, nature and God. ATM also means a blessing and a source of locals’ livelihood. “If Rinjani is dirty and tourists are reluctant to return, what do we fill the ATM with,” he said.
