JAKARTA, Indonesia: When traffic lights change to green on Jakarta Streets, pedestrians are treated to a jingle touting the advantages of having only two children.

On the back of a coin is a picture of a mother, father and two youngsters accompanied by the message, “A small family is a happy family.”

Businesses ranging from grocery stores to movie theaters give discounts to women presenting a card showing three years of “consistent contraception.”

Throughout the world’s fifth most populous country, where 175 million people vie for scarce space and few jobs, the government has come up with an enterprising birth control program that has other overpopulated nations in Asia, Latin America and Africa seeking to duplicate it.

”Our goal has been to make family planning and concern with population activities important everyday issues of the community just as irrigation and local security are,” said Haryono Suyono, a University of Chicago trained sociologist charged with slowing the country’s annual population growth rate from 2.1 percent to 1.7 percent by the early 1990’s.

His office is the brainstorming center for innovative ways of reaching even the most remote village without the benefit of a television media blitz in a country where the per capita income is $450 a year.

Since President Suharto first launched the population control campaign in 1970, Indonesia’s fertility rate has plunged by 41 percent. Two thirds of all reproductive age adults now use some form of birth control.

The price tag has been hefty. Indonesia spends 76.7 million annually on family planning and is continually encouraging community ideas that are inexpensive to implement.

Indonesians use 65 million condoms a year, take 100 million cycles of the pill and half the world’s production of an under the skin implant that protects a woman against pregnancy for up to five years.

When a handful of government vacancies were advertised in east Java last year, six people were trampled to death and 35 injured as 50,000 applicants broke down a fence in a football stadium in their frenzy to hand in application forms.

Our initial efforts were directed toward acceptance of contraceptive measures, which created the impression that family planning is merely contraception,” Haryono said.

”This was wrong,” he said. “Instead our purpose now is to raise awareness of the need and desirability of family planning to make the small, happy and prosperous two child family the norm.”

“We’re changing the way people look at life”, said Dr. Soetedjo Moeljohdihardjho in charge of program development. Were replacing the large family tradition with the reality that prosperity is achievable with a small one.”

At monthly mothers meeting thought Indonesia, children under 3 are weighed on a market scale while a planning volunteer explains the relationship between health, nutrition and fewer children.

On the resort island of Bali, population experts use a multicolored chart to plot the types of contraceptives used against the birthrate.

Abortions are illegal in the country with the world’s largest Moslem population, but the faith has no specific decrees against contraception.

We compromised,” said Soetedjo. “There is no active promotion of sterilization,” he said,” and religious leaders have assisted in providing legitimacy to the program.”

Sterilization is available in the event of an emergency, Soetedjo said. “If a man has five children and doesn’t want another, that’s an emergency,” he added.

Soetedjo stressed there is no attempt to punish those who already have large families

”We don’t resort to posters depicting many children in rags,” he said. “Instead we encourage their parents to prod them into having fewer.”

The deluge who comply are treated like heroes. Every year Suharto rewards couples with medals testifying to the number of years they have been “family planning acceptors.” Ten years earns silver and 16 years gold.

Incentives also include all expense paid trips to Mecca, scholarships and even dinner with Suharto for those who have not only been exemplary contraceptive users but who have also successfully encouraged others to follow their example.

The Indonesian version reads, “Dua Anak Cukup Two children are enough ”

Article extracted from this publication >>  March 17, 1989