GESANG created a song for Bengawan Solo, a river in Central Java. Which Sundanese composer was inspired to create a song for the Citarum River in West Java? The current story of the latter is uglier than that of Bengawan Solo’s. Waste has been contaminating the 360-kilometer-long river. People can no longer use the water for bathing or washing, let alone drinking.

It isn’t just at the upper parts of the river, of course. Residents of