Critical Thinking on Ponari's Phenomenon

Generally while feeling sick, people consult a doctor. As we know that doctor is one who studied for a certain period of time in a university to be able to cure sick people. Then, the doctor decides whether they are really sick or not. By interviewing and examining patient’s body, the doctor will be able to determine any part of patient’s body which is getting wrong. Finally, the doctor will prescribe some medication for improving patient’s health status.

In fact, surprising event happened. I read the newspaper and saw on TV thousands of people are willing to queue and even send the night in front of a 10 years-old boy’s house, named Ponari in Jombang, East Java, in whom they believe has an almighty power to cure disease by only dipping his hand holding a stone, he admitted given by the sky above through lightning, to a glass of water. And the question, what is the story behind this fact?

A few months ago Ponari was hit by lightning, according to his story. When he regained consciousness there was a stone on top of his head. He threw it away but the stone came back so he took it home. There he discovered the healing effect of the stone: a neighbor was healed of fever after he had touched it, the villager’s head got rid of a bad pain in his arm and the local police officer swears he has seen with his own eyes how Ponari healed a boy who had not spoken even a single word for five years.

The news about the miraculous healings spread quickly and people started to flood to the small village of Balongsari, a few hours drive from Surabaya. First dozens, then hundreds, and now there are thousands. They bring cups, bottles and buckets of water in which the boy wonder plunges his stone. This supposedly turns the water into powerful universal remedy.

Seeing that many people with a hope that their disease will go away only as simply as drinking water from Ponari’s stone made me sad. Not only it’s ridiculous, but it shows us how bad our medical service is in the country. If only the government was able to provide free health facilities especially to the poor people, none of these would happen. I’m talking about 5 people who died while waiting for their turn meeting Ponari, the elders who could not get enough air to breathe with so many crowds around.

People tend to act based on their belief and knowledge. Those are made of previous information from other people and their own educational background. If this information is wrong and unfiltered by educational background, thing happening next is the appearance of wrong belief and knowledge. This will cause bigger impact on society if spread widely because people tend to take wrong action. This can explain Ponari phenomenon in our society.

The curing of disease by dipping stone, like what’s done by Ponari, is categorized as alternative therapy, which doesn’t involve medical knowledge. However, people who go to Ponari to cure their various diseases feel better that is perceived as being recovered. Unfortunately, there is no objective parameter used to measure. Rationally, that curing is impossible. However if we see this phenomenon from psychological aspect, suggestive effect may alleviate the symptoms of disease related to emotional factor.

In general, Ponari’s phenomenon is supported by people belief on his magical story and psychological aspect. However, there is no objective proof of the healing effect. Therefore, it is suggested that local government, especially from the field of health, should contribute to overcome Ponari’s phenomenon by facilitating more accessible health facilities, and giving correct information on health.