The Tragic Life of the "Poco – poco" Songwriter

Kompas

Arie Sapulette, 58, the composer of "Poco-poco" song.

The loud voice of Arie Sapulette, 58, the composer of "Poco-poco" song, was heard clearly from the first floor even though he was alone in his dark room on the second floor. He was not singing. Arie was raving and angry. It was unknown who he spoke to, because he was alone in his room measuring 3 by 4 meters.

Arie has been suffering from schizophrenia for the last 18 years. When his song was used to accompany the massive “Poco-poco” dances joined by about 65,000 people to break the official Guinness World Record for Largest Line Dance (multiple venues) in Jakarta on Sunday (05/08/2018), Arie just locked himself in his room.

Arie\'s father, Zefnath Sapulette, 84, said that his son often avoided when there were people he did not know came to his house. The Ternate-born musician was taken care by his father, a retired army officer, and his younger brother, Ferry Sapulette, 56, who worked odd jobs. They live in a modest house in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta.

His siblings tried to fulfill all Arie\'s needs. Zefnath\'s family has to take care of Arie because his wife and children did not want to stay with him since he was ill. Zefnath\'s family tried to bring Arie to several mental hospitals, but it was in vain. The family finally decided to take care of Arie at home.

Ferry said that his brother preferred to be alone while working at the local office of the Manpower Ministry in Ternate, North Maluku, as a temporary employee. Although he had worked for 10 years, he had never been appointed as a civil servant. Since then, Arie has become moody and angry. The situation was under control when Ari and his friends formed a band. However, it did not last long. He again became moody and angry. Doctors in several mental hospitals said Arie suffered from schizophrenia.

KOMPAS/PRAYOGI DWI SULISTYO

Arie Sapulette family. Left to right: Ferry Sapulette, Zefnath Sapulette, and Melki Sapulette.

Talented musician

Arie played a guitar since graduating from elementary school. His musical talent continued to improve. As a teenager, he often explored his regional culture. After graduating from high school, Arie decided to migrate to Jakarta. He continued his education in a foreign language college. After graduating, he returned to Ternate and worked as an honorary worker at the local office of the Manpower Ministry.

In 1990, Arie returned to Jakarta following his brother, Melki Sapulette, who has moved to the capital city earlier. Arie, the fourth of seven siblings, was invited by Melki because he lived with uncertainty after he no longer worked. In 1991, Ferry followed Melki and Arie to Jakarta.

Together with his cousin, Roni, they formed a band called Nanaku Group. They established a record company PT Kie Raha Intraprindo (KRI). "We composed, recorded, and sold our albums," said Melki, the director of the record company. Their first album with the song "Poco-Poco" became a hit in the Indonesian music industry.

They then entered the recording studio at Gemini Records in 1993. The song "Poco-Poco" became quite popular. In 1995, the song was sung back by top singer Yopie Latul and became more popular. Poco-Poco dance movement was then quite popular following the local culture of several regions.

They were very active in creating several pop albums and spiritual songs. Unfortunately, the band faded with Arie\'s psychological condition. Their songs were hijacked and they lost royalties. "We gave all the copyright and royalties for the songs Arie composed to his wife," Ferry said.

Based on data from the Cipta Karya Cipta Indonesia Collective Management Institute (LMK), commercial royalty rights for all of Arie’s songs were given to Arie\'s wife, Sondang Paulina. Sondang received Rp 3 million. The head of the Cipta Karya Cipta Karya Indonesia, Dharma Oratmangun, explained the royalties were obtained from the use of Arie’s songs for commercial purposes. For non-commercial interests, Arie did not receive royalties.

Poco-poco

The song "Poco-poco" was composed by Arie, representing the young people\'s lifestyles in the 1990s. The song tells about cute and tiny babies. The term poco-poco was used by Arie to describe a beautiful girl.

Poco-poco was taken from the Manado language. The language of Manado was also used in Ternate so there was an assumption that the song "Poco-poco" came from Manado. The song "Poco-poco" has also been claimed to come from Malaysia.

RONY BAGUS KUNCORO

6As many as 65,000 people participate in the Poco-Poco dance from the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle to National Monument (Monas) on Monday (08/08/2018), morning. Dancing poco-poco massively, initiated by First Lady Iriana Jokowi, was held to break the Guinness World Records world record.

The poco-poco dance movement was also inspired by the movement of the soldiers’ morning gymnastics. At that time, Arie lived in the Indonesian Army dormitory in Ternate because his father was assigned to work there.

Ferry said he was proud because Arie\'s song, which was quite popular, was considered a national cultural wealth. Unfortunately, they were never involved in the massive poco-poco dance activities. None of the committee members came and met with Arie\'s family.

Dharma also sympathizes with the small amount of royalties received by songwriters. In fact, songwriters are the lives of the music industry. "Without the creative work of songwriters, the music industry will not be able to grow," he said.

Arie Sapulette\'s life story is not as lively as the song "Poco-poco".