Laine Berman
Inside Indonesia (progressive quarterly), Collingwood, Australia
Faisal and Jhoni came to Athonk’s tattoo studio with a small picture and a lot of hope. It was their own design. They had both tried kicking their putauw (street-grade heroin) habits through a variety of rehabilitation programs. All failed. Now, they were trying something particularly strange for young urban trendies—a spiritual approach. They had designed a picture to be tattooed into their skin while they prayed. The tattoo needle would be the last needle ever to penetrate their skin.
That was in 2000. By 2002, both of these talented, well-known musicians from Jakarta were dead from drug-related problems. According to local statistics, so too were 17.8 percent of drug users throughout Indonesia.
