Chess Contest Winner Abandoned in Jakarta
Friday, 22 August, 2008 12:34 WIB
TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: Yuni Veronika, 11, student of elementary school (SD) 09 at Kuala Terusan, Riau was an international champion at the Fourth World School Chess Championship 2008 in Singapore last month.
Yuni was one of eleven students with achievement invited to the Independence Day ceremony at the State Palace on August 17.
On August 18, Yuni and other students met President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and first lady Ani Yudhoyono, also the Cabinet Ministers in Jakarta.
Apparently the committee did not pay for the accommodation and transportation for Yuni and her father, Sudirman, in Jakarta. After the meeting, they could not return to Riau and pay for their stay in Jakarta.
“I do not know where to go. I only have money for food. I am forced to ask for people’s kindness,” Sudirman said.
Yani from the National Education Department confirmed the committee did not pay for their accommodation and transportation. “They had been told about it. It should be the responsibility of the Indonesian Chess Association (Percasi) in Riau,” she said.
Yuni and her father have been in Jakarta for four days without knowing how to return to Riau. They stayed at the political party’s post at Jalan Kamboja RW6, North Grogol, South Jakarta.
She wore a white athlete’s jacket holding her trophy and two of her medals.
At the 3×3 meters square-post, Yuni and her father stay with an old sleeping mat and fan.
NININ DAMAYANTI
They must have learned how to treat chess players badly from the USCF.
I’m a chess lover from Jakarta, Indonesia and feel sad to hear this news.
I’m a middle aged man age fourty three, so I have quite experience with chess in Indonesia.
I simply have to say, you can’t earn a living to become a chess player in Indonesia.
Very rare international tournaments and even quite rare local tournaments, so how can you make a living, to become a chess player in this country?
The local tournament Prize was poor if not mediocre.
Many chess players who only has National Master title lives in poverty.
Unfortunately, I personally have heard from one of the top ten player (perhaps top five) of this country: “Catur itu berat, tidak ada uangnya”, or ” Chess is a hard occupation, there’s no money in it”.
Yes, it’s true, but in Indonesia,
if you lives in Spain or Germany or Netherlands, it’s a different story.
Recently this country is fight with corruption that I feel ashame to say: one of the worst in the world!.
It’s a pity, there’s two promising young players: Susanto Megaranto age 21, who already has GM title and Irene Kharisma only 17, who has IWM title and already achieve one WGM norm.
Surely there’s a well known semi-retired GM from this country, Adianto, Utut.
but at the time he got lucky, his chess career was financed and sponsored by a wealthy chinese businessman, who also a chess lover.
But what about the rest of Indonesian Chess?
You can’t compete with strong GM’s, I would say in the Top 100, (not to mention those Warriors from the Top 20 list with Rating over 2710 – check on Mr. Hans Arild Runde List),
without enough good food to eat and place to sleep at night and unable to go back home, since there’s no money left to pay the train or bus tickets, like this poor little girl, chess champion from Indonesia.
How can we get money to them? Is there a phone number? An address?
Someone set up a Paypal donation page!
It’s an Internet joke! And all of you fell for it. Hahahahahahaha.
Sounds like something the Philippine federation would do!
Seriously, a few years ago, the kids who were going to the World Youth were asked to pay for their own way out there with a promise that their expenses would be reimbursed by the federation. So the kids and their parents paid their own way, several going into debt for it since they were assured they would be reimbursed.
You can guess how the story ended