Not Stopping At Donation Raising, Angga Puradiredja Encourages Active Musicians To Voice Environmental Issues

Vocalist of Maliq & D'Essentials, Angga Puradiredja (Instagram @maliqmusic)

JAKARTA - Maliq & D'Essentials is one of the performers involved in the charity concert "100 Sumatra Heal Musicians" which was held at T-Space Bintaro, South Tangerang last weekend.

Meanwhile, the 100 Musician Heal Sumatra concert was held to raise donations for disaster victims in Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra due to flash floods and landslides.

Through this concert, the vocalist of Maliq & D'Essentials, Angga Puradiredja, gave a further point of view than just a donation-raising action. He saw this disaster encourage musicians to start campaigning for environmental issues, which were considered to be the root cause of the problem.

Angga himself welcomed the initiation of fellow musicians, Tompi, who raised donations for disaster victims, and involved Indonesian musicians.

"Honestly, we are confused about where to start. Incidentally, Tompi, our friends, musicians as well, did a very cool and very inspiring initiation. Of course we welcome it with open arms," said Angga.

Nevertheless, Angga refused to limit the role of musicians to only fundraising. Disasters in Sumatra that are widely suspected to be due to illegal logging trigger Angga to pose greater challenges: musicians must be a serious spokesperson for reforestation.

"Of course we as musicians want music to inspire, not just for entertainment, but for impact to all points of view, one of which is the environment," he said.

Angga admits that Maliq & D Essentials itself is not an environmental expert, but they have platforms and reach power to become effective socialization machines.

"We need partners to do this. And Maliq will certainly respond very positively," he said.

Furthermore, Angga mentioned the need for accurate information from the field, especially regarding areas that are still isolated, so that assistance can be distributed on target.

"All kinds of socialization must continue to be intensified, so that the government and society can help inform what happened, which actually happened in the field," said the 45-year-old singer.

Angga also conveyed prayers and hopes, while reminding the importance of collective commitment. "In the future, let's promise together, a national promise maybe, to green Indonesia more, to care for Indonesian forests, to care for nature, so that later the goal of Indonesia Gold can be carried out as quickly as possible."