A Shameful Subject to Discuss

He gazed at the world outside in the porch. Sitting comfortably in his chair, he enjoyed some fried food served on a plate on the table near him. He was silent. He seemed to be occupied by his own thought.

At first, I was hesitated about whether or not I should sit with him. Sitting with him always excited me as he often discussed an interesting subject and came up with fresh ideas that attracted my mind and stimulated my motivation. To me, he seemed to have gone through a long chain of experiences that taught him the wisdom of life.

I remembered having a discussion with him on the learning atmosphere in schools once upon an evening in our porch. He stated that there ought to be a progressive change in the way teachers teach students. He argued that the conventional teacher-centered learning style, which was still widely used in schools, would only result in passive students lacking confidence and courage to think critically about new things. He pointed out some instances taking place within people in his generation. “I know you desire not to be a teacher, Son,” he said,”But when you happen to teach a group of kids, let them talk. Encourage them to be critical of what you have taught them.” Stricken with such an opinion, I could only nod as my mind processed the information so intensely that I couldn’t say any word.

I hoped that such an appealing discussion would happen again between me and him. After deliberating for a while, I slowly walked and sat in an empty chair next to him.

“Busy, Dad?” I asked him.

He gasped a long breath, stretched out a bit.

“Not really. How are you doing?”

“Not bad.”

“What have you been busy with lately?”

“Nothing.”

“No protesting against the government again?” he asked with a provoking smile in his aging face.

“Hehe…well, a group of friends and I just held a protest prior to my coming home.” I took his question a little bit seriously, realizing that I was about to find a chance to have a discussion with him.

“What was the issue?”

“Corruption. The local mayor was suspected of committing corruption worth billions of rupiahs. It was our third time to speak out the issue.” I answered enthusiastically, hoping the discussion would be lively. But to my surprise, there was silence. An awkward one. I waited for him to make a comment or at least give a response, but he didn’t seem to do so. He took a piece of fried banana instead. I had to say something, I thought.

“So Dad, what do you think about it?”

“About what?”

“Our protest, or corruption itself.”

He kept chewing the banana.

It was not our first time to discuss corruption, nor the first time did he seem not to be interested. I remembered one day I expressed my opinions eagerly about the contagious crime affecting most bureaucrats in this country. I told him its history since the VOC era until the recent years along with the effects of such a shameful act. Uncountable number of examples I gave him to support my ideas, ranging from Edy Tansil’s case to the case of the local head of the village that was suspected of cutting direct cash aid (BLT). But he seemed not to be interested.

Sometimes I even went further. I compared this country to one of our neighbouring countries that now spangled with modernity and prosperity. Since this republic was founded forty four years ago, corruption had become a deadly disease crumbling our potentials into pieces.

“Were our ascendants true men, honest to themselves and the country, this country would have become a prosperous one, a world superpower perhaps. Can you imagine that, Dad? ” I argued exuberantly. “What’s the difference between corruptors and thieves anyway? Corruption is such a disgraceful crime. A ruthless one. Some corruptors deserve death penalty, I believe.” But he remained silent. All my arguments and enthusiasm seemed in vain.

I had no idea why he responded so differently to that subject. Sometimes I assumed that subject about corruption never really attracted him or perhaps he didn’t know much about it.

In contrary, he would excitedly respond to other subjects such as education, terrorism, economy, politics, et cetera. He would eagerly listen to me and responded with questions that stimulated my mind to think more critically. But such responses never happened during any single discussion about this particular subject, like what was happening at the moment.

“Dad?” I shattered the silence.

“Young man, how is your GPA? Doesn’t drop, eh? You know, everything should be balanced; academic achievement, organizations, and part time jobs.”

“Dad, I thought we are discussing….”

“What was your last GPA? 3, 92? That’s not bad. I’m sure if you study harder you’ll get 4, 0.” He smiled brightly at me. “I’m so proud of you.”

All of sudden, his cell phone rang; he pulled it out of his pocket. I sighed and took a piece of fried banana. Changing the subject with flattery won’ work, I’ll keep discussing this subject, I murmured.

“Hello.”

“Hello. Sir, I have a bad news.” Said a voice from his cell phone speaker softly.

“What do you mean?”

“The state prosecutors are preparing to investigate our last…you know…”

“Which one?”

“The inter-regency road construction, the budget of which we overestimated.”

“How far have they gone?”

“I heard they’re gonna call some of us for hearing tomorrow.”

He stunned for a while.

“Sir?” asked the voice in the phone.

“I’ll talk to you later.”

He hanged up the phone, looked at me nervously, and then went into the house.

I gazed at him, hardly believed what I just heard.

A Shameful Subject to Discuss

 

Sixty four years we’ve gone down this road

But you’re still so ignorant about them

How many times have I told you

How many times have I showed you

Those filthy rats must be slain

Burglars, tormentors, manipulators

They’ve taken our Mother’s belonging so greedily

thus made her limp

made our children cry

made our light dim

made her run more slowly than our neighbours

does

Sixty four years we’ve gone down this road

But you’re still so reluctant to talk about them

I’m afraid you are one of them

PLAYBOY:INDONESIA MAY WELCOME AMERICAN ARTIFACTS, BUT NOT YOU!

PLAYBOY:

INDONESIA MAY WELCOME AMERICAN ARTIFACTS, BUT NOT YOU!

by: Pratama Yoga Nugroho*

Introduction

Playboy is one of the largest American men’s magazines with 27 international editions. Its domination stretches in five continents, conquering the attention of most men in the world. However, in Indonesia, where a large number of American artifacts prevail, it was widely rejected. It sparked controversy even before its first publication in the country and drew massive protests from a number of Muslim societies. This paper is going to analyze Playboy deeply from four cultural criticisms as well as how and why the rejection of Playboy took place in Indonesia.

Phenomenological Approach

Playboy was founded by Hugh Marston Hefner in 1953. Its original title was to be Stag Party, but there was another magazine entitled Stag. Hefner and co-founder and executive vice-president Eldon Sellers then met to seek a new name. Sellers, whose mother had worked for the Chicago sales office of the short-lived Playboy Automobile Company, suggested “Playboy.” The name “Playboy” has since been used as the name of Hefner’s magazine.

Playboy made its first publication in December 1953, with no date printed as Hefner was unsure whether or not there would be a second edition. This first issue sold out in weeks with the number of circulation reached 53, 991. On its first publication, Playboy was sold at the price of 50 cents.

Playboy’s popularity increased rapidly. By the end of the sixties, one-fourth of all American college men were buying this magazine every month. The best-selling Playboy edition was the November 1972 edition, which sold 7,161,561 copies. In 1972, it also launched its first international edition Germany.

However, not long after reaching its peak in the 1970s, Playboy’s circulation declined because of competition with other magazine with the same concerned field such as Penthouse, Oui and Galley in the 1970s and more recently from other men’s magazine such as such as Maxim, FHM, and Stuff. In response, Playboy has attempted to re-assert its hold on the 18–35 male demography through slight changes to content and focusing on issues and personalities more appropriate to its audience — such as hip-hop artists being featured in the “Playboy Interview”. Through this strategy, to date Playboy remains one of the most notable men’s magazines with 27 international editions.

In total, Playboy used to be published in 36 countries but there are 9 countries where Playboy stopped its publication. Those 9 countries include Indonesia, Italy, South Africa, Turkey, etc. In Indonesia, Playboy was first published on April 6, 2006, despite massive protests from a large number of Indonesian Muslim societies. Indonesia is the second Asian region where Playboy made its publication after Japan (1975) and Hong Kong (1986-1993) (wikipedia).

Ideological Approach

Hefner said from the beginning that he was not producing a girlie magazine. He said that Playboy was a “life style” magazine, where sex is only a part of it. By publishing Playboy, Hefner was actually trying to take his readers back to a time before their first sexual experience, a time when they still liked their stuffed bear and thought that a naked woman might be something like that. According to Joan Acocella, “Playboy draws on two opposing trends that dominate American mass culture since its first launch: on the one hand, America’s idea of its Huck Finn innocence; on the other, the enthusiastic lewdness of American advertising and entertainment. The magazine proposed that wanton sex, sex for sex’s sake, was wholesome, good for you: a novel idea in the nineteen-fifties. Above all, the main value Playboy promotes is an upscale hedonism,” (the New Yorker).

.

Celebratory

Despite Playboy’s heated controversy and protests from a number of Muslim societies in Indonesia, the first issue of Playboy sold in weeks (wikipedia). It showed that there were people who actually agreed with Playboy’s publication in Indonesia. Furthermore, according to a magazine seller, “It’s the porno that sells best, (in Indonesia),” (the Guardian). This phenomenon showed that there were a lot of people who actually enjoyed things such as Playboy which others considered taboo and indecent.

Despite Playboy’s considerably costly price of Rp, 39.000, a friend of mine, AP, a junior at Surabaya Institute of Technology, bought it. He stated that he wanted to satisfy his curiosity about the magazine; to see whether the magazine was actually mostly about pornography. Some of my friends also admitted that though they did not buy the magazine but they enjoyed reading it by borrowing from their friends. This shows that despite the protests, Playboy actually found a place in the heart of some Indonesians.

Moral/ Ethical Approach

Prior to its first publication, Playboy was already infamous Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country. It is because Playboy is identical to promoting nudity and sexuality which are strongly forbidden in the Islamic law. Hasyim Muzadi, the chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama, Indonesia’s largest Muslim organization stated, “Indonesia is different from Europe or America, where the culture and attitudes towards nudity are totally different from ours. (Playboy) simply has no place in our social norms.” Along with that line, Jusuf Kalla, the vice-president said, “”From the government’s point of view, we disagree with Playboy’s publication.” while a member of parliament from the Prosperous Justice Party worried that the magazine would harm the morality of the youth.

A series of protests by Islamic organizations such as FPI (Islamic Defender Front), Muslim Peduli (Concerned Muslim), and KAMMI (Action Union of the Indonesian Muslim Students) also took place in major cities voicing the same message, among them are “Reject Playboy!”, “Don’t publish that filth here. Keep the Indonesian nation clean,”, and “We don’t need that sort of porno here. There’s enough vice here already.” (The Guardian)

All these facts reveal the same idea: Playboy, according to a number of Indonesian Muslims, is bad as its vulgarity in terms of exposure of sexuality is strongly against Islamic values and potentially endangers the morality of the youth.

Effect on Indonesian Culture

Playboy’s controversy has certainly drawn attention from the vast majority of Indonesians. This is believed to lead to the passing of the Pornography Bill into law by Indonesian Parliament on October 30, 2008. The attempt to pass the bill itself has been made since February 14, 2006 in which the bill still used its original name, the Anti-Pornography and Pornoaction Bill.

Between these two dates, Playboy has been prosecuted by FPI (Islamic Defender Front) and the editor was facing a two-year jail sentence for publishing indecent material. However, the judge said the charges were incorrectly filed under Indonesia’s Criminal Code, when it is the country’s Press Law which should have been applied (ABC News Online). In other hand, Jusuf Kalla, the Indonesian vice-president, stated that the problem could be overcome if there had been a law regulating pornography and pornoaction (Gatra).

Few days following Playboy’s first publication in Indonesia, several Islamic mass organizations in Central Java inspected street magazine shops and sellers and confiscated all Playboy magazines as well as all other men’s magazines they found. Avoiding potential anarchy those people may cause, the police finally did the inspection themselves (wikipedia). Looking at all controversy that already happened, we can conclude that Playboy basically causes social unrest in Indonesia.

Closing

Having read all these facts and opinions, we now know the reason why Playboy was rejected. We can also draw a major conclusion: not all American artifacts can be accepted and prevail in Indonesia and in order to do both, they need to respect local values and in this Playboy’s case: Islamic values. Furthermore, as Indonesian society and American society have different culture, values, and norms, it is important that any kind of American products willing to expand their market in Indonesia consider and analyze these differences more so that the Playboy’s failure will not happen to them.

REFERENCES

Acocella, Joan. “The Girls Next Door” March 20, 2006, www.thenewyorker.com/critics/content

John Aglionby, “Jakarta struggles with the politics of pornography as Playboy comes to town”, January 30, 2006, www.guardian.co.uk

Thompson, Geoff, ^“‘Playboy’ charges thrown out of court”, April 5, 2007, www.abc.net

”Wapres: Pro Kontra Playboy Karena Belum Ada UU-nya” Jakarta, 27 Januari. www.gatra.com

“Indonesian Playboy mag ‘to respect Muslim values’”, January 20, 2006, www. www.smh.com.au

“Playboy”, www.wikipedia.com

“Playboy (majalah)”, www.wikipedia.com

“RUU Pornografi”, www.wikipedia.com

*: the writer is a junior at the English Department, Diponegoro University, Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia

AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: A TURNING POINT OF MY CONFIDENCE

It is often said that experience will always leave a mark on a man, changing the way he sees and walks in the world to some extent. I believe in and strongly agree with this adage as I have proven it myself. I have been through a chain of experiences that had shaped me making who I am in the present time that different from I used to be. That chain of experiences has examined as well as forged my values, ideas, and personality; and, in a lot of cases, has made me revise them, making them more compatible with what I really want in my life. Specifically speaking, I have proven that this chain of experiences has a very strong impact on my confidence.

Perhaps one of the most notable moments that changed me in terms of self-confidence is my student exchange program in the US. It took place when I was sixteen; age that many of my families and relatives said to be too young for a boy to live in a foreign country with totally different culture. It was a concern about the stability of personality and value as well as maturity. Conversely, the Central Java AFS board confidently said that this program was all about self-improvement through experiencing life in such country. They assured my parents that I would be a better person after the program.

Prior to the program I was such a shy, reserved boy. Perhaps this was because of the way my friends treated me when I was younger since I was the youngest amongst us that eventually diminished my self-confidence. To date I can still remember how shy I was when I really wanted to ask a question to the teacher in the class; how I thought too much about what my classmates would think of me regarding my question, what was the appropriate manner to address the question, and how the teacher would react to my question. This lack of confidence was a very hard obstacle to my self-improvement.

Then, filled with socially-hidden determination to promote Indonesia to the international world, I went to the US through AFS. Throughout the program I was lucky to find wonderful host family, teachers, and friends. Positive attitudes and behaviours they demonstrated in their social life such as respect and appreciation were very inspirational and influential to my confidence. Besides, I found American society is more tolerable about what someone wants to be in his or her life with fewer obligations to embrace social norms than it is Indonesia. This idea really boosted my confidence as I needed not to worry too much about what others might think about what I would say and do. I felt like I could be whatever I wanted to be. Furthermore, many activities that required me to interact with a large number of people such as Youth Leadership class, which emphasized on character building, and giving a number of presentations about Indonesia before large audience have also forged my confidence.

After the program, I was back continuing my study in my old boarding school. There I began exercising my American confidence through active participation in the class and school organization. All worry I used to feel prior to the program in terms of demonstrating active participation in social-related activities I no longer felt. Frequent and intense interaction with friends gave me enormous amount of chance to exercise as well as to maintain my confidence. To my surprise, I became a totally different person in terms of confidence and a lot of my friends admired me for that.  I was not a shy and reserved boy any more, but rather an active and critical member of all kind of social entities I affiliate to. I felt very delighted with this change.

Now, nearly three years and half since that turning experience, I still exercise and maintain this confidence and to some extent spread it to people around me. I have embraced it as one of the most important values in my life and I will always adhere to it as it is an instrumental key to fostering my self-improvement. I have proven that with this confident I could be accepted in many programs such as the Government’s prestigious Indonesia-Canada Youth Exchange Program and AIESEC new member selection. This turn of confidence through American experience was a real proof to the adage stated above and that American experience has left a mark on me, changing the way I see and walk in the world, is undoubtedly true.

Why Many Women in the Biggest Muslim Country Do Not Wear Hijab

Indonesian is a nation consisting of people from various tribes, ethnics, cultures, and religions. In facing such diversity, the nation has a national motto “Unity in Diversity” that plays a role as a principle ruling the social interaction with great emphasis on respect and tolerance for people with different identity. Any extreme exercise of certain values of certain entities that harms people of different entities will obviously violate the principle and harm the unity of the nation.

Hijab, the Muslim head cover for woman, is one of the most important values in Islam. However, the fact that the majority of Indonesians confess to Islam does not mean that it is acceptable to impose the obligation of the wearing of hijab on all Indonesian women. There are several points to consider regarding this matter:

First of all, according to Islam standpoint, it is true that Islam requires Muslim woman to cover their heads but this obligation does not extend to women of other religions. In the other hand Islam pays great respect and tolerance to other religions and the exercise of them. There are numerous Qur’an verses as well as Prophet’s words and action, two main basis of Islamic jurisdiction, concerning this kind of attitude. While other religions may not impose the obligation to wear a head cover on women, therefore the compelling of all women regardless their religion to cover their heads while in public will obviously violate the Islamic principle itself.

Secondly, as the national motto Unity in Diversity strongly emphasizes on respect and tolerance, Indonesians are required to respect people form different entities a long with their values. Any imposition of a value of an entity—regardless whether it is religious or not—on people of other entities will obviously challenge the principle. Furthermore, it will endanger the unity of the nation as people of other entities will feel a sort of favouritism and discrimination. In this case, the compelling of all women regardless their religion to cover their heads while in public based on Islamic values will create ‘tyranny by majority’ and will lead to even worse social problems.

Thirdly, Indonesia adheres to Pancasila as the national ideology upon which all the laws in the country are based. The first point of Pancasila states that Indonesa adheres to the belief in one and only God but nowhere in Pancasila points can we find the establishment of certain religion as the national religion. That means that Indonesia is not a theocratic country and thus, the favouritism of values of certain religion over others will obviously violate the country national ideology.

It is probably strange to find that the many women in the biggest Muslim country in the world do not wear hijab but since every country has its own demographic and socio-cultural condition, it is understandable why such phenomenon happens in Indonesia. Furthermore, three considerations above describe well the reasons why Indonesia has no specific regulation concerning women’s public dress code. In conclusion, the idea of requiring women, no matter what their religion is, to cover their head while in public has no place and cannot be accepted in Indonesia.

CONTROVERSY OVER REALITY SHOWS IN INDONESIA

Reality show mainly refers to any kind of shows that expose events in the real life, some are scenario-free while some others are scenario-based. It has become increasingly popular in Indonesian media recently. Various kinds of reality show have come to the public with various themes, various substances, and various concepts. Some of the notable reality shows are Termehek-Mehek (TransTV), Tukar Nasib (SCTV), and Uang Kaget (RCTI). Considering the fact that most reality shows have high rate, it is clear that it gains a large number of audience.

However, controversy arises over whether or not reality shows are good shows. Some people argue that reality shows gives influence to our life and we can take many advantages from such programs on television. We can gain more knowledge about people life, some of which perhaps we never imagined. For instance, we can realize how difficult it is for some people to earn money for living and how harsh the life is for some others when they live in a miserable condition. We definitely can take lesson from such programs. So, there is no big deal if we learn from or always take people life as an example. In addition to that, an advantage of watching reality TV shows is that teenagers can get good enjoyment out of it because reality shows are something new, not old prepared program (non-monotonous), thus they allow people to explore new ideas concerning TV programs. Other opinions about the advantages of reality shows would be seeing people in real life situation and how they handle adversity. And the most importantly, the contestants of reality shows may become famous and the reality becomes high ratings among public.

On the other hand, there are also the bad things about reality shows. First of all, some reality shows are not ‘truly reality show’. There is a director who directs the show. In this kind of show, the director directs the program so that the program can imitate reality as close as possible. Since the director’s intervention is dominates the show, it does not really show the real life. For example, there is reality that arranges a dating of a couple. But in that show we can see that the show has been arranged. In this context, we can see that the director tricks the viewers. Secondly, in the case that reality shows ‘truly show the reality’, some reality shows have exceeded the boundary. Any kind of show must respect the privacy of people but since reality shows exist, many people’s privacy has been disturbed and exposed to the public. For example, there is a show that it reveals someone’s relationship. In this case, not only will “the client’s privacy” be uncovered, the people’s privacy around “the client” will be exposed as well. The producers seem not to show appropriate concern about the invasion of people’s privacy. They seem to think only about their probability to gain a rating as high as possible. Finally, some reality shows are forms of exploitation of human’s life (l’exploitation de l’homme par l’homme). In various kinds of reality shows, we can clearly see how the producers exploit many aspects of human life. Some shows that emphasizes on the exposure of people’s hardship are actually exploitation of poverty and some others with private theme  are examples of the exploitation of emotions.

In conclusion, reality shows that have a lot of both positive and negative sides. Despite the negative sides of reality shows, we, the viewers at least can still learn from the shows. However, there are some things that we have to concern regarding watching reality shows: we have to be critical of the shows in distinguishing whether they are ‘truly reality show’ or not and we have to be aware of any kind of exploitation occurring in the shows.

The Making of American Multiculturalism Paper

Paper American Multiculturalism kelasnya Bu Yaning begitu demanding. Berkali-kali kelompokku yang terdiri dari aku Pratama Yoga Nugroho, Sri Harjanto, Wilda Nurul Umami, Utami Asvarini, and Tjhin Fe Yin Ratna Mega Sari mengagendakan diskusi untuk membahasnya.

Dengan topik Greek American experience dan materi film My Big Fat Greek Wedding, kelompok kami harus menganalisis kehidupan masyarakat Yunani di Amerika. Semuanya dimulai dengan nonton film bareng di rumah Tami di daerah Puri Anjasmoro. Di tengah terik matahari Semarang yang begitu menyengat, kami berlima+Widya memacu motor ke rumah Tami. Begitu sampai di sana, biz ngadem sebentar lanjut ke acara lunch coz most of us lom have lunch. Sambil lunch, kita nonton My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Bis nonton, da sesi foto bareng. Pas sesi bareng da sedikit trouble, pramuwisma alias pembokatnya Tami yang diminta njepretin kamera ternyata kurang bisa mengoperasikannya. Terpaksa Tami harus mengajarinya. Permasalahan tidak berhenti sampai di situ. Meski diajari berulang-ulang, si pramuwisma tetep ja kurang paham, biz tu pake bilang, “Yang item gak keliatan!” lagi, referring ke aku yang waktu tu pake kaos item, ato mang karena kulitku ITEM!!! (Ya ga papa lah, biar kulitnya item smoga hatinya ga item…hahahaha..) Jam 7 akhirnya kita pulang ke kost/rumah masing-masing.

Diskusi kedua dilaksanakan di tempat Tami lagi. Kali ini minus Wilda yang sakit. Tanpa menghiraukan sengatan sang surya, aku, Fe Yin, dan Janto meluncur ke rumah Tami. Dari awal, aku pengen diskusi kali ini fokus dan terarah, tidak seperti sebelumnya yang terkesan banyak maennya. Sebelum kami bertiga meluncur ke rumah Tami, Widya sempat memprediksi, “Pasti kalian bakal lama ngerjainnya. Ntar masih ngadem, buka2 Facebook, ke Marina bla bla bla….” Tapi ternyata semua tu tidak terbukti. Begitu sampai di rumah Tami, biz ngadem sebentar, kita ternyata langsung bisa fokus. Dimulai dengan review penjelasan Bu Yaning dilanjutkan dengan pembahasan format paper dan pemilihan topik analisis. Saat memilih topik analisis, kami bertiga sempat bingung. Adaptasi keluarga Portokalos dalam My Big Fat Greek Wedding ni termasuh Salad Bowl atau Pizza. Setelah ijma’ kami gagal, kami putuskan untuk bertanya pada Pak Jo, our lovely American lecturer, via sms (sebelumnya Pak Jo pernah bilang that he prefers text messages or emails to calling). Pak Jo bilang tu termasuk Salad Bowl, tapi kalo Portokalos family menghias rumah mereka dengan ornamen-ornamen Yunani, tu termasuk pizza. Lha aku tambah bingung. Ku sms lagi beliau menanyakan kebingunganku dan propose if it’s OK to call him or talk to him online. E ternyata beliau langsung telepon. Akhirnya terjadi pembahasan tentang adaptasi Portokalos family via telepon. Kesimpulannya, it’s sort of salad bowl but at the same time tu juga pizza. Akhirnya kami putuskan to arrange our analysis like this: transformasi sebuah keluarga Yunani dari Salad Bowl menjadi Pizza. Diskusi kemudian dilanjutkan dengan pembuatan paper bagian historical background dan berlangsung hingga pukul 7. Jam 7, aku, Janto, dan Fe Yin, undur diri setelah sebelumnya sepakat bersama Tami untuk kembali bertemu di kampus jam setengah 9 keesokan harinya.
Malamnya, terjadi perubahan tempat. Wilda minta tempat diskusinya di kostnya ja dan semua kelompok setuju.

Sabtu pagi, jam setengah 9 kurang aku meninggalkan ke kost, tapi bukan ke kost Wilda, melainkan ke kost ‘diajeng’, literally buat ngambil makalah American Multiculturalism, tapi ‘niatku sebenarnya’ melepas rasa rindu yang telah begitu lama membuncah di dada, ya itung-itung ngapel coz dah lama banget ga maen ke kostnya hahahaha LOL. Pengambilan makalah yang sebelumnya disepakatihanya akan memakan waktu 5 menit ternyata molor sampai 2 jam! Tapi ga papa. Kedua belah pihak tidak mempermasalahkan kemoloran ini, justru menikmatinya halah…

Jam setengah 11 setelah selesai menunaikan kewajibanku memberi nafkah batin pada diajeng, aku berangkat ke kost Wilda. Di sana Tami, Ratna, Janto, and Wilda dah nunggu tapi haven’t started anything yet padahal q dah bilang mulai dulu ja. Dalam hati, aku mbatin, “Ya Allah, betapa teganya aku menelantarkan mereka….Astagfirullahal adhim.”

Setelah mengondisikan diri, kita langsung mulai ngerjain paper. Karena laptop-nya cuma dua,kita bagi-bagi tugas. Pengerjaan tugas yang kedua ini bisa dikatakan sangat produktif karena seluruh anggota bekerja dengan penuh semangat dan antusiasme tinggi. Meski sempat ada selingan foto-foto, cek Facebook, dan guyon, kami melihatnya lebih sebagai selingan yang menyegarkan dari kepenatan kerja daripada distraksi yang mengganggu konsentrasi. Pembuatan paper di kost Wilda berlangsung hingga kurang lebih pukul setengah lima sore.

Sesi terakhir dari pembuatan paper American Multiculturalism adalah finalisasi paper karena ada beberapa adegan dalam film yang harus di-crop namun karena keterbatasan fasilitas hal ini tidak bisa dilakukan di rumah Wilda. Finalisasi paper dipercayakan kepada Fe Yin karena ia memiliki software yang dibutuhkan untuk menge-crop adegan dalam film. Fe Yin tidak butuh waktu lama untuk melaksanakan tugas ini. Keesokan harinya, paper American Multiculturalism kelompok kami dengan judul “My Big Fat Greek Wedding: A Cultural Adaptation of a Greek Family from Salad Bowl to Pizza” siap untuk dikumpulkan. Ada kepuasan tersendiri saat kami mengumpulkan paper tersebut. Kebersamaan dan keakraban yang terjalin selama proses pembuatan merupakan pengalaman unik dan menarik yang tak akan pernah kami lupakan; satu contoh indahnya persahabatan yang dapat membuat segalanya menjadi indah.

Daftar Kelompok Mata Kuliah American Multiculturalism Semester 4

Daftar Kelompok Mata Kuliah American Multiculturalism Semester 4

Jurusan Sastra Inggris Fakultas Ilmu Budaya

Universitas Diponegoro Semarang

Kelompok 1-Native Americans Experience:

1. Oktavia Pratomo Putri        A2B007088

2. Vita Rosaria Putri               A2B007117

3. Widya Ivani                                    A2B007119

4. Yuliani Trinaningrum          A2B007126

5. Ryan Christianto                 A2B007096

Kelompok 2- African Americans Experience:

1. Aldhila Annisa                    A2B007008

2. Aryantika                            A2B007020

3. Christa Pawestri                  A2B007027

4. Dwi Ayu Muji Lestari         A2B007041

5. Dwi Lestari                         A2B007042

Kelompok 3- Asian Americans (Chinese) Experience:

1. Bramantyo Edi                    A2B007025

2. Dimas Langgeng                 A2B007038

3. Evi Lusanti                          A2B007079

4. Nanda Marita                      A2B007079

5. Rr. Shita Permata                A2B007095

Kelompok 4- Asian Americans (Indian) Experience:

1. Izzati Gemi Seinsiani          A2B007067

2. Liza Zuliana                        A2B007073

3. Joko Prawito                       A2B007068

4. Nur Afni                             A2B007084

5. Nuria Choiruz                     A2B007086

Kelompok 5- European (Greek) Experience:

1. Sri Harjanto                         A2B007108

2. Tjhin Fee Yin Ratana M.S. A2B007115

3. Utami Asvarini                    A2B007116

4. Wilda Nurul Umami           A2B007121

5. Pratama Yoga Nugroho      A2B006074

Kelompok 6- European (Norwegian) Experience:

1. Saputra Hadi                       A2B007099

2. Sasa Sasmita                       A2B007100

3. Siti Ika Wahyu Rn              A2B007104

4. Tintony Rizan G                 A2B007114

5. Yulad Abid T                      A2B007124

Kelompok 7- Hispanic Experience:

1. Kharisma Fitriana A.           A2B007070

2. Latta M. R. S.                     A2B007071

3. Nawangsih Edynna P.        A2B007080

4. Oky Ferrari K.P.                 A2B007089

5. Nurhidayah Apriditia          A2B007085

Kelompok 8 Asian American (Pakistani) Experience:

1.  Annisa Rasitami                 A2B007013

2.  Cresti Eka F.                      A2B007030

3. Arif Iman S.                        A2B007018

4. Dini Hajarrahmah                A2B007039

5. Dawud Firdaus                   A2B007031

Kelompok 9- Asian American (Arabic) Experience:

1. Aninditya Rizky P.             A2B007012

2. Cindy Rahmadina               A2B007029

3. Fatimah Hassha                   A2B007051

4. Fitriana Nugrahantini          A2B007054

5. Galih Ratna Siwi                 A2B007055

Kelompok 10-Indonesian Experience:

1. Andini Setyawati                A2B007011

2. Anugrah Hadi Saputra        A2B007015

3. Asdianto Winda                  A2B007021

4. Chyntia Christina                A2B007026

5. Yosua Rilando Lubis          A2B007122

Hari Terakhirku Mengajar: Sebuah Refleksi Kecil tentang Pendidikan

Rabu tanggal 28 Mei 2008 adalah hari terakhirku mengajar Peace Education dan les Bahasa Inggris kelas 4 dan 5 di SD dekat rumah. Sehari sebelumnya sudah kupikirkan masak-masak keputusan ini. Alasan utamanya adalah karena adanya kesibukan-kesibukan lain yang membutuhkan waktu, tenaga, pikiran, dan konsentrasiku. Terlepas dari permintaan anak-anak didikku untuk tetap mengajar, keputusanku sudah bulat: hari itu hari terakhirku dan aku tidak akan mengajar lagi.

Sebenarnya agak berat mengatakan keputusan ini pada mereka, terlebih saat teringat betapa antusiasnya mereka mengikuti pelajaran, betapa girangnya mereka saat kuajak menyanyi bersama, dan juga keluhan-keluhan mereka tentang guru-guru mereka. Akhirnya kusadari bahwa kehadiranku bagi mereka tampaknya lebih dari sekedar guru Peace Education dan les Bahasa Inggris, namun juga sebagai tempat berkeluh-kesah, bertanya tentang pelajaran-pelajaran lain, dan saat kubaca surat-surat mereka, aku terhenyak mengetahui arti diriku bagi mereka.

Pada pertemuan sebelumnya memang kuminta mereka menulis kesan dan pesan mereka terhadapku. Formatnya bebas; bisa dalam bentuk surat, essay, atau apa saja dan kuminta mereka menitipkannya pada adikku yang duduk di kelas 5 SD. Rata-rata mereka menulis dalam bentuk surat dan saat kubaca surat-surat mereka di rumah, aku tercenung. Anak-anak itu memang mengatakan hal-hal positif tentangku dan juga memintaku untuk tetap mengajar, namun satu hal yang tidak kuduga adalah bahwa mereka sudah menganggapku seperti kakak mereka sendiri. Beberapa di antara mereka bahkan meminta untuk diperbolehkan datang berkunjung ke rumah. Ah, ternyata…

Kupikir semua ini adalah buah dari komitmenku sejak awal untuk dapat menyatu dengan mereka dan masuk ke dalam dunia mereka, dunia anak-anak yang penuh canda tawa. Ini sengaja kulakukan utamanya untuk menciptakan suasana pembelajaran yang senang dan santai, jauh dari kesan tegang, agar mereka lebih mudah menerima materi karena menurut penelitian, belajar akan jauh lebih efektif saat dilakukan dalam keadaan senang.  Di satu sisi, memang kulihat anak-anak begitu mudah menyerap materi sementara di sisi lain kurasakan ada semacam kedekatan emosional antara aku selaku pengajar dan mereka selaku siswa. Kedekatan emosional yang mempengaruhi efektivitas kegiatan belajar mengajar (KBM) inilah yang, bila kutangkap dari cerita anak-anak, kurang ada antara mereka dan guru-guru mereka.

Selama ini, kata mereka, kegiatan KBM selalu terkesan terlalu formal dan serius. Hal ini diperparah dengan sikap guru yang sering menolak menjelaskan materi dan langsung menyuruh siswa mengerjakan soal-soal yang materinya belum mereka pahami. Bahkan ada seorang guru yang saat diminta menjelaskan materi, dengan santainya menjawab, “Tanya guru les saja!” Benar-benar sebuah realitas yang patut disayangkan dimana antusiasme, semangat, kekritisan, dan rasa penasaran siswa disambut dengan ketidakpedulian dan sikap acuh tak acuh guru mereka.

Memang banyak yang perlu dibenahi dari sekolah tempatku mengajar, mulai dari pelaksanaan KBM hingga efisiensi penggunaan energi-pernah kudapati dua ruang kelas yang lampunya terus-menerus menyala selama beberapa hari tanpa pernah dimatikan. Aku yakin ini terjadi tidak hanya di sekolah ini, namun juga di tempat-tempat lain, mulai dari jenjang TK hingga perguruan tinggi. Garis besarnya, masih banyak yang harus dibenahi dari pendidikan kita, tidak hanya sistemnya namun juga operasionalnya. Ini adalah PR besar untuk kita semua, atau kalau boleh disempitkan, untuk yang peduli pada pendidikan di Indonesia.

UNDIP’S ENGLISH PROGRAM

A Door to My Future Career Opportunity as a Diplomat

I was in the third grade of high school when I made the decision to major in English at Diponegoro University (Undip). At that time, I aspired to be a diplomat.  I knew that it took knowledge in international politics to be a diplomat so that I tried my best to enter international relations program at Gadjah Mada University (UGM), the second best university in Indonesia, through UGM Entry Test. At the same time, I applied for PMDK program offered by Diponegoro University to my school. PMDK is a selection program by which high school students can be accepted in a university without having to take any entry test. I decided to take English to major for PMDK program since there was and is still no international relations program in Undip.

What came to my mind was that perhaps I could still learn politics outside the class while at the same time I could improve my English, one of the major requirements to be a diplomat, in the class. Besides, Undip is also a reputable state university in Indonesia and I believed that graduating from Undip would help me pursue my career in the future. Furthermore, in order to apply for a job as a diplomat in Indonesian foreign embassy through Indonesian Foreign Ministry, one needs to be graduated from certain majors such as international politics and English.

The last reason is actually the most crucial one as I still strongly aspire to be a diplomat. Should Indonesian Foreign Ministry narrow the requirement of being a diplomat only to politics-related major, I would be totally shocked and really need to change my long term plan. The possible alternative of my future career for which I can pursue based on my proficiency in English will likely be working in NGO’s or international companies. Being a teacher is actually the most prospective alternative but I have less interest in it.

Now that Indonesian Foreign Ministry still opens vacancy to English graduates, I’m trying best to prepare myself to be a diplomat. I still have two years to go and prepare myself for it by enriching knowledge in politics as well as improving my soft skills. I found that the atmosphere at Undip is conducive enough to do both and I believe that Undip’s English program can bring me to an Indonesian embassy abroad.