Do you remember this particular news: Soon, the City Will Destroy Manila’s Last Lung, Arroceros Forest Park, to Build a Gym? Well, here’s an update: Good News! The Arroceros Forest Park is here to stay (and not become a gym)! And while that’s great to hear, it’s quite amazing to hear that an Indonesian man is also embarking on a similar journey: preserving forests. Only, he’s walking 800km, backward!
Medi Bastoni is a 43-year-old man from Dono village in East Java where his main mission was to preserve the forest of Indonesia by walking towards the country’s capital backward.
The father of four hopes to take thousands of steps backward so he may help mankind go forward. And hopefully, he will meet the president, Joko Widodo so he may request for a symbolic tree seed to plan on the slopes of Mount Wilis.
His get-up includes the red and white Indonesian flag on his backpack together with a sign on top of his head which has Indonesia’s emblematic golden eagle where it is written: “Tanda Bakti Anak Negri”, meaning “A tribute to the motherland.”
Screenshot from the video
The father of four hit the road in an unusual ensemble: tracksuit pants, high-vis vest, and a rectangular contraption of piping around his body that holds a rear-view mirror in place above eye level, so that he can walk backward unobstructed.
Ingin mengikuti upacara bendera di Istana Negara dan bertemu dengan Presiden Jokowi. Medi Bastoni, seorang pria asal Tulungagung Jawa timur nekat menempuh perjalan jauh dengan cara jalan kaki mundur, Jumat (19/7) malam. (Fel) #DiskusiInteraktifElshinta pic.twitter.com/h7ojD27enZ
— Radio Elshinta (@RadioElshinta) July 19, 2019
When translated, the tweet says: “Want to join the flag ceremony at the State Palace and meet with President Jokowi. Medi Bastoni, a man from Tulungagung, East Java, was determined to take a long trip by walking backward on Friday (7/19) night.”
He set out from his village where he has been walking since around the second week of July where he plans to make it to Jakarta’s State Palace by August 17 in commemoration of the nation’s 74th Independence Day.
Regarding his decision to specifically walk backward, Medi told the Indonesian press that he wanted Indonesians to “look back” and reflect on the nation’s history and “the service of heroes who have fought for the Indonesian state”.
In comparison, assuming a car is traveling at 30mph, the car would take 3 hours just to reach 100km. Let us not forget that this man walked 800km just to save forests! It wouldn’t take a genius to realize how badly he was fighting for this cause. So, it probably wouldn’t hurt to actually listen to what he’s fighting for.
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