Healing Children’s Trauma

Whether or not he is invited, Om Batman will abruptly go wherever disasters occur around Balikpapan, East Kalimantan. People remember him as Om (Uncle) Batman of Balikpapan. It’s simple...

KOMPAS/SUCIPTO

The figure, known as Om Batman in Balikpapan

The hatred and trauma in children is what calls upon this 37-year-old man as if he was Batman in Gotham City. Whether or not he is invited, he will abruptly go wherever disasters occur around Balikpapan, East Kalimantan. People remember him as Om (Uncle) Batman of Balikpapan. It’s simple...

He only wants to be known by the public as Om Batman. Yes, it’s simple, he says. It all began in 2017. At the time, he found the right action figure for social activity. He had once tried to wear a clown’s costume. However, after considering the matter, he assessed the model as too general and less cherished by children.

By searching references on the internet, he decided to choose Batman’s suit because it has a unique shape and is familiar to children. He later downloaded costume design patterns from cyber sources. With his savings worth Rp800,000, he created the suit with EVA (ethyl vinyl acetate) foam sheets.

Thereafter, he started his social activity in this suit. People in Balikpapan, particularly children, call him by the nickname Om Batman. When his action is covered by journalists, he always says, “My full name is Om Batman.”

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“Let them remember what I’ve told them. Let the Om Batman figure be imagined according to their respective perceptions,” said the graduate of social and political sciences of Muhammadiyah University, Yogyakarta, in Balikpapan on Sunday (13/6/2021).

Om Batman frequently visits disaster scenes for entertainment and trauma healing, especially among children. His latest appearance was when a fire razed three neighborhood units in Baru Ulu subdistrict, West Balikpapan district.

On Tuesday (8/6/2021), Om Batman was facing the setting sun. Children were approaching him spontaneously without being commanded. Several of them took pictures of Om Batman’s suit in amazement. Others were laughing as they listened to the chat of Om Batman, who was flapping the wings of the fiction hero.

“We needn’t fear fire, but should be careful. Fire, if small, gives us benefits. It can be used for cooking, lighting candles and so forth. If it’s big, we should keep away from it and help our parents,” said Om Batman over a loudspeaker amid the ruins of burned houses. The children around him were all ears.

KOMPAS/SUCIPTO

Uncle Batman with a number of children whose houses burned down in Baru Ulu Village, West Balikpapan District, Balikpapan City, East Kalimantan, Tuesday (8/6/2021) afternoon.

Fires

At least 40 houses were destroyed in the fire that took place on Saturday (5/6/2021). One victim was killed after being trapped in a burning house.

Aid in the form of clothing, food and other needs of evacuees was provided following the tragic accident.

Om Batman arrived there to provide a different necessity, which was children’s trauma healing, because they certainly felt bored and uncomfortable under such circumstances. Light entertainment was expected to dissipate children’s confusion and boredom.

As for the message he usually conveys, Om Batman tries to explore children’s minds. He uses simple and amusing language. The substance communicated is derived from reading and observing children’s attitude when encountering disasters.

Om Batman is also often present in locations hit by floods. He mostly does the work on his own initiative purely as pro bono social activity. Some institutions and social agencies have frequently invited him to entertain children on various occasions.

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Schools, the police, the Indonesian Military or nongovernmental organizations also need his collaboration in social devotion activity, students’ pre-exam motivation and communication of various programs. Asked about his fee, he will always reply, “It’s suited to organizers’ budget.” Although he needs money, he is striving to be engaged in social activity with total sincerity.

Om Batman is a mural artist by profession. His clients are generally kindergarten managers. Besides, he also works as a bold motorcycle taxi driver. Kompas has repeatedly asked him to allow his original identity to be mentioned in this section. However, he even asked that his figure be sufficiently known by the public as Om Batman. “Om Batman is enough. Judge his action rather than the figure,” he said briefly.

He indicated that he was trying to make people remember the value and message he conveyed in his Batman suit without knowing the figure behind it. Like the fiction hero, he wants children or whoever watching him imagine his presence every time residents are in trouble.

KOMPAS/SUCIPTO

Om Batman comforts the children whose houses burned down in Baru Ulu Village, West Balikpapan District, Balikpapan City, East Kalimantan, Tuesday (8/6/2021) afternoon.

Several close friends surely know his name and figure. But when he wants to act in a certain place, he will get dressed in the suit before reaching his destination. Then he goes on his trip. He was once recorded by somebody while going by motorcycle fully clad in the costume. The video later went viral in social media.

The path he has chosen was not always smooth. The Covid-19 pandemic since early 2020 has made him earn less income as a mural artist and motorbike taxi driver. The condition led to the nadir of Om Batman’s life. Therefore, he once decided to sell the only Batman outfit he had made.

“But my friend said if the costume was bought by somebody and used in a way contrary to my principle, it was feared to bring me into disrepute,” he said. Finally, his friend helped him borrow some money. So, the fiction hero created by artist Bob Kane and author Bill Finger is still capable of meeting children in Balikpapan anytime up to the present.

But my friend said if the costume was bought by somebody and used in a way contrary to my principle, it was feared to bring me into disrepute.

Batman is indeed a fiction figure with super power, but he becomes a hero with the force of human capital to learn, train himself and design technology. Batman is Bruce Wayne, the wealthy figure who owns Wayne Enterprises in the comic and film.

Om Batman in Balikpapan only borrows the fiction hero’s figure with the bat symbol. It’s not known how long he will perform Batman’s role in this manner. Yet of course he is not Bruce Wayne who can tempt many women with his luxury at parties.

He is only a motorcycle taxi driver and mural painter at schools, going to work and returning home by bebek (underbone) motorbike.

He’s making both ends meet, if not in dire straits. Nonetheless, his determination to keep entertaining and healing the trauma children has never waned. Om Batman will be moving from one mishap to another for the sheer purpose of sharing joyfulness.

Om Batman

Nickname: Om Batman Balikpapan

Born: Blitar, 2 May 1984

Education: Social and Political Sciences, Muhammadiyah University, Yogyakarta (2009 graduate)

Profession: Mural artist, motorcycle taxi driver, Batman costume player

This article was translated by Aris Prawira