East Kalimantan Preserves Traditional Healing Knowledge with Literacy Book
- 25 Jun 2026 14:09 WIB
- Voice of Indonesia
Key Points
- Minyak Waras, a traditional healing oil from East Kalimantan, has been formally documented in print.
- East Kalimantan Library and Archives Agency launch of the book “Minyak Waras Borneo Kai Ahim” to preserves oral heritage.
RRI.CO.ID, Samarinda - The secrets of the traditional remedy Minyak Waras, (Waras Oil) long passed down orally across generations in East Kalimantan, have been formally recorded in print. With the launch of the book Minyak Waras Borneo Kai Ahim, local authorities aim to rescue this local wisdom from the threat of cultural loss.
East Kalimantan Provincial Library and Archives Agency (DPK) is preserving the traditional healing knowledge of Minyak Waras as part of the region’s knowledge heritage through the book release. Waras is a local word, it means healthy.
“Documenting local wisdom in writing is a tangible form of applied literacy,” said Head of the East Kalimantan Library and Archives Agency, Lisa Hasliana, in Samarinda on Wednesday, 25 June 2026.
She said traditions are truly maintained when local knowledge that was previously transmitted orally is successfully documented in a physical book.
Lisa explained that modern libraries are no longer merely repositories for printed collections, they play a vital role in documenting and disseminating Nusantara heritage knowledge, so it does not disappear. “By reading, we transfer knowledge across generations. By writing, we immortalize regional civilization,” she said, as quoted by Antara.
She expressed confidence that a region’s development foundation depends on high literacy levels and a strong reading culture among its people. “We want to realize an ecosystem where the public is not only a consumer of information, but also a creator of knowledge,” she added.
The cultural seminar and book review were held through a collaboration with the Iqro Community Reading Park (TBM) and support from legislative bodies. With the publication of this literacy book on traditional medicine, ancestral wisdom can be read, studied, and academically examined by future generations.
“The regional administration’s clear hope is that this collective educational effort will spark the creation of more local literacy works by the region’s sons and daughters,” said Lisa. ***
News Recomendation
Loading latest news.....