Dani Mijarto is Back!

I have known Dani – Pradaningrum Mijarto – from her early days as a sport reporter in Harian Ekonomi Neraca. She is friendly, gregarious and -- when we meet -- we always have passionate discussions on current issues. She never hesitates to share ‘background info’ on a hot topic, which always makes our discussion enjoyable as well as insightful.

She was a senior sport reporter in Warta Kota last year, when she sent me a farewell sms, saying that she’s heading for Maastricht, Netherlands. She had won a scholarship from the Netherlands Education Center (NEC) to further her studies in Universiteit Maastricht where she majored in Arts and Heritage.

An email followed a few days later, saying that although there were other Indonesians in the faculty of economics, medicine and other social sciences, she was the only Indonesian majoring in Arts and Heritage. “Who would anyone be interested in arts and heritage in Indonesia, anyway?” she said in her email. “I just hope that what I am going to learn would benefit at least to our city, Jakarta (as benefiting Indonesia would be too hard)”.

Well, now she’s back!! This time as a senior reporter in Warta Kota’s Sunday edition. This is perfect for her since Sunday papers usually contain light (but not unimportant) topics such as interesting old places. She will also have more time to apply her knowledge gained this past year. In fact, when we talked last night, she was passionate about promoting old Jakarta and its museums.

Welcome back, Dani. We look forward to you contributing to Jakarta’s arts and heritage.