Serdadu Kumbang

Title translation: Beetle Troop

Many students don’t pass the national exam so the teachers of SD (elementary school) and SMP 08 (junior high school) tighten the system of learning. The rigid discipline enforcement affects Amek, Dulah, Acan, Ujang and Umbe. Amek is one of the students who fails at the exam. He’s stubborn and nosy, always in a difficult spot. On the contrary, his brother Minun, in the SMP, always gets the first rank and wins mathematics competitions in Taliwang.

Minun and Amek live with their mother, Siti, in Mantar village, located at the top of a hill far from the city. Siti’s husband, Jaynady, has been working in Malaysia for three years and never sent them money. Outside of the orderly village there’s a tree, not so tall but shady. The villagers call it the tree of dream, a unique tree where each of its branch is tied to a piece of stone or wood or coral as a plumb bob, and a scrap of paper where one name’s and one’s dream are written.

Minun loves Amek very much, not only because Amek fails the exam but also because Amek is born with a cleft and often jeered by his friends. Amek has a strong point though, he’s good at horse riding. People often ask what his dream is but Amek never responds, even to his teacher. He’s afraid people will laugh at him, fully realizing that his cleft lip makes his dream unreachable.

Amek, Acan, Umbe, Minun and other students in Mantar are close to Guru Imbok, a favorite teacher. She’s the one who understands them.