You can always find her side by side with Violet giggling away like naughty school girls at the back of the classroom. She is one of the oldest of the group, although she may not act it. Grown in East Java with three little seeds, the eldest being thirty one years old and the youngest being nineteen. One seed sadly didn’t have a chance to grow and died at the age of 16 in 2016. A widow after 25 years of marriage after she lost her husband in 2018. She has spent 10 years behind Indonesian prison bars with 10 still to go, and she hopes for parole in 2026. 

 

Before this life, she spent seven years bringing up the generation of today as a kindergarten teacher and then spent 15 years as a school principal. Her hardworking attitude and loving nature meant she was sent around Jakarta helping schools with faculties as small as 7 to as large as 30. During this time, she received a call from a friend who asked if she would help accompany and translate for a woman as she needed to go from Jakarta to India but couldn’t speak English. Hibiscus proclaimed that she couldn’t take that many days off work but after her friend assured her it would only be three days she agreed. Both on a flight to India but then splitting off, staying in different hotels and taking different flights back to Jakarta, Hibiscus came back with an extra suitcase. Once in Jakarta and back to teaching, she got a call. The woman who she helped escort to India was on the line begging her to come to Bali with the extra bag as she was in trouble. Little did Hibiscus know that this extra luggage would change her life forever. 

 

A team of undercover police officers had already arrested the other women and were waiting for Hibiscus at the airport. Meth was discovered in the bag, surprising Hibiscus as this was her first time seeing it. Cuffs on, and off to LPP Kerobokan. In the trial, the other woman claimed that Hibiscus was the drug dealer, meaning she got a shorter sentence of 10 years and Hibiscus got a sentence of 20 years. 

 

For the next 10 years, Hibiscus spent most of her life in Kerobokan with her accomplice but asked to be transferred out for a year to Banceuy, Where she discovered her love for baking and cooking. After spending so many years fueled with anger towards this woman who had lied, and is now going on parole in a month; she has made peace with it. Now, you can either find her helping out in the kitchen; she’s a wizard with the steamer, whipping up steamed cakes, buns and even steamed brownies. Or in the crafts area sharing her story with every stitch.