The Touring Indonesia Harmony. I (Kamaruzzaman Bustamam-Ahmad) and my wife (Fitri Zulfidar), with a motorcycle, Kawasaki Versys 250, we named Nyak Ver departed from Banda Aceh to Papua, Merauke, to be exact. That’s our journey around Indonesia. This activity is fully supported by BNPT (National Counter-Terrorist Agency) for Commissioner-General Boy Rafli Ammar’s big idea as Head of BNPT. This idea started with our dinner with the Head and BNPT officials in Banda Aceh on February 24, 2021. The head of BNPT asked us to travel around Indonesia to carry out the mission of Indonesia Harmoni, one of BNPT’s taglines in introducing the mission of anti-radicalism, terrorism, extremism, and intolerant. When Mr. Boy Rafli Amar brought this idea up, we almost couldn’t believe it because usually, officials throw around ideas.
However, former Deputy I of BNPT, Major General (Retired) Hendri P. Lubis, crystallized that I must follow Pak Boy’s idea. Then, he asked me to write a proposal and the Budget to be submitted to the BNPT. We informed the FKPT members in Aceh that there was a mission that had to be completed from the BNPT. They were greeted with great enthusiasm. When the FKPT National Working Meeting was in Labuhan Bajo, the issue of Touring Indonesia Harmoni continued to roll around. The Head and Deputy I kept saying that there would be a Head of the FKPT Aceh who would tour Indonesia with his wife. After returning from the National Working Meeting, we, together with a small team from FKPT Aceh, tried to formulate the concept and form of activities for Touring Indonesia Harmoni. Mr. Joko and Dr. Mukhlisuddin Ilyas worked on the sidelines of their busy schedule to prepare proposals.
I prepared a draft of the proposal. They are finalizing it according to the standard proposal format to be submitted to BNPT. At first, I was still hesitant to continue this activity because state officials usually make small talk in front of the public. Once concreted, sometimes there is a solid wall when the official’s big idea is about to be realized. However, the small FKPT team convinced me that BNPT in Jakarta would recognize the Touring Indonesia Harmoni activity if it were well prepared. However, I still believe it won’t be easy to penetrate the ministry. In this confusion, Deputy I sent his photo when he was at kilometer 0 Merauke. He said that he would see a picture of me with a motorbike at the easternmost point of Indonesia. At that time, I also noted that the idea of Touring Indonesia Harmoni seemed severe. As soon as I showed the photo of Deputy I in Merauke. I started to make proposals, hoping to send proposals to several sponsors. Beginning in May 2021, we have prepared a proposal with a note that the departure date of Touring Indonesia Harmoni is on July 28, 2021.
Apart from that, I can prepare myself mentally, budget, and convince my family in Banda Aceh and Krueng Mane in North Aceh. All the last work, I have to do it slowly. It is not easy to leave 5 kids for a relatively long time. I am convincing the extended family that this mission is not a traveling mission but that there is something behind this long journey. One more thing I do is watch the experiences of bikers who travel around Indonesia or the world on motorbikes and cars. I watch all the leading channels.
Every day I only listen to how the experience of bikers or overlanders going around, especially solo or duets with their partners. Because I watch these channels so often, the children already know their new habits by heart. I got various information from watching this activity, starting from preparation, vehicles, choosing a route, setting a budget, and when I wasn’t fit on the trip. After I did all the preparations, we did not receive any response from BNPT for the proposal we sent. Then I sent a short message to Deputy I that the proposal was almost a month old. We sent it to BNPT. There was no response from them at all. I ventured to send a pdf version of the proposal and RAB. To Mr. Deputy I. He immediately agreed and said he helped the Touring Indonesia Harmoni trip with 50 million rupiahs. For the rest, he asked me to seek help from sponsors. At that time, we were excited again that Touring Indonesia Harmoni must be continued.
Because I already got the budget approval from the BNPT, I started hunting for various equipment for Touring Indonesia Harmoni. The first thing to do is prepare the vehicle to be more prime. We replaced the Nyak Ver tires with Pirelli MT 60. I change the oil with a pretty good brand, IPONE. Then Nyak Ver was serviced at several workshops to ensure that Nyak Ver was ready to be invited to travel around Indonesia. In addition to preparing motorbikes, we are also looking for Touring jackets that my wife and I can wear for several months. For this purpose, we mainly use online shopping media rather than offline. I record every expense spent on preparation. When I look ahead of departure, the preparation costs have already touched the tens of millions.
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