My Hometown

Finally i finished my essay for wrtting competion.. Wow... i can't belive it, i can do it hehe..



My Hometown

My hometown is really a hometown for me. Its not as big as jakarta, its not as amazing as Bali, and even its not as beautiful as Yogyakarta. But i always miss my hometown, Bengkulu. Wherever and how far i go, i always want to come back home. I love my hometown so much. I'm eager to be part in developing my hometown. That's why im working in Regional Development Planning Board of Bengkulu Province now. I am really proud of my province. Actually, nothing much you can find in hometown, only an unexplored rainforest and a beautiful and exotic long beach. In the rainforest, you can discover the largest flower of the world, Rafflesia Arnoldi and at the long beach you can find white sand and pine trees along the coast. The sky is so clear and blue. You also can experience a beautiful sunset at the dusk.

Bengkulu is the smallest and lowest populated province of Sumatra. Its only about 1,5 Million people. Bengkulu province is located on the southwest coast of Sumatra. The province protected by a stretch of mountains on the east and the ocean on the west. If you ask people where Bengkulu is, i bet nobody can show it on the map, even people in Indonesia. Yes, its true, i had been asked by my Indonesian friend which part of Kalimantan Bengkulu is. Hey, it's in Sumatra, not Kalimantan :) It's ashamed, but i can't blame them. Someday, i will proof them, Bengkulu will become famous. Many things i can explore from Bengkulu, and people in the world will know Bengkulu, not only because of a huge earthquake jolted my hometown many times, no... I don't want Bengkulu become famous because of dissaster. But much more than it. Someday... I Will.

Well, i'm going to tell about a litlle story of Bengkulu. Is it boring ? Well, i hope not. The British founded Bengkulu in 1685. It is the last territory in Indonesia to be held by the British. Sir Stamford Raffles, who later found Singapore, was lieutenant - government of Bengkulu from 1818 to 1823. Thomas Stamford Raffles was an important figure in Bengkulu history, which in 1817 was appointed as a Lieutenant-Governor of Bencoolen. In the year of his arrival, he and a botanist named Joseph Arnold discovered the world's largest flower, in South Bengkulu. The flower is now known as Rafflesia Arnoldi.

Many people in Bengkulu said, if British still stayed in Bengkulu, and didn't exchange it with Singapore to Dutch, Bengkulu could be as great as Singapore right now. I totally don't agree with that. Wow, what a shallow aggravation! Why should we be proud of it. We should build our town with all our potentials. Not because of somebody's help. Maybe Bengkulu is not as rich as other Provinces in Indonesia, we have less natural resources than other provinces in Indonesia. But it's not the reasons to fall behind.

Well, we are back to The Rafflesia Flower, because i only can tell about it now. It's a pride of Bengkulu people. And now its an offcial symbol of Bengkulu Province. Yes, i know, you can find Rafflesia Arnlodi in many places in the world. But this flower wouldn't have name Rafflesia Arnoldi, if Raffless and his botanist didn't find it at the fisrt time at the rainforest in Bengkulu.

Rafflesia Arnoldi lives as an parasite. It doesn't have leafs, stems or even roots. The diametres is nearly one metre and the weight up to 11 kilograms. It takes up 8 months to bud up, and it stays in bloom only 1-15 days. The rafflesia alrnoldi usually can be seen during rainy season, the months of November – February. Tabah Penanjung, an hour drive into the hills above Bengkulu is a nature reserve where rafflesias are often found. Unfortunattely we can not see it everywhere in rainforest, the places and the growth times are unpredictable. But if you come at this time, you probably find it since it is rainy season now in my hometown.

Welcome to Rafflesia City.