Gumuk take care of us... do we take care of gumuk too? 🥺

Gumuk are small hills formed by volcanic eruptions during ancient times. There are about 1,600 gumuk in Jember, East Java, Indonesia.

Not only are they beautiful (I love gumuk!! T_T), they also provide all sorts of protections for humans such as acting as a hurricane barrier and reducing city temperatures through its oxygen-producing greenery. Many gumuk also have historical and cultural significance.

Sadly, during a lecture as part of the Access to Justice in Southeast Asia Course organised by the Faculty of Law at the University of Jember, I learnt that the gumuk are at risk D:

Most gumuk are owned by private individuals and can be sold to other individuals or corporations to be mined for their sand and rock.

During a site visit, we saw this gumuk (pictured) with a more "advanced" rock formation being mined. Machines can't be used for this type of rock - miners use their bare hands to remove each one, and the ones that are flat enough are sold overseas. Mining gumuk causes both environmental damage and disruption to local communities.

While doing some brief research about land reclamation in Singapore (NLB article), I read that the first project was carried out in 1822 during British colonial exploitation. A small hill (gumuk's friend...) "at the end of Tanjong Singapura in Lorong Tambangan (today's Raffles Place)" was destroyed so that its stones could be brought to fill the south bank to turn it into a "commercial centre".

The British paid 200 - 300 workers one rupee a day to mine the hill because they had decided that "the reclamation project was achievable and beneficial to Singapore" - but who exactly did it benefit? Who did it harm? Who lived on or near the hill and what was their relationship to it? How did the mining affect them and how did they respond?

There's no mention of these questions or answers in the article and I'm having a hard time finding other articles/sources about the people affected. I'm hesitant to assume there was no one in the area given how colonial narratives often erase the presence of indigenous people or frame their ways of life in derogatory ways. In any case, the decision to destroy the hill was not made by indigenous people and its destruction still caused the loss of plant and animal life.

While these events may seem unrelated given their separation by time and space (1822 hill in Singapore vs 2025 gumuk in Jember), I believe they are connected by similar underlying colonial & neocolonial beliefs about humans' relationships to nature and what "development" means.

Seeing things clearly, I think, is always a helpful step in tackling any problem.

By identifying these dominant narratives and understanding their colonial roots, we can be more effective in unlearning them and taking action to push against their manifestations in the real world.

Even though it's too late for that small hill at the end of Tanjong Singapura, it's not too late for the gumuk in Jember!! And it's amazing how we are here today in this course, seeing how our struggles are connected, talking about it and doing our best to protect them!