Wanita-wanita Syurga _lanjutan_...(a part of Wanita-wanita Syurga Novel...)

“Aunt Aesy!, what are you doing?”

Seorang gadis yang akrab dengan panggilan Nanny, putri pemilik rent house yang aku tempati telah berdiri di belakangku. Aku tersenyum. Senyumku agak terpaksa, tapi tak boleh aku tampakkan sedihku padanya. Aku memgatur nafas satu-persatu, kemudian berbalik padanya.

“Oh, Nanny! Kemarilah!”

Gadis kecil itu berhambur ke pelukanku. Rambut pirangnya menutupi wajahku. Terlihat samar-samar bintik-bintik coklat di wajahnya, khas orang Inggris.

“Aunt Aesy, kenapa belum tidur?”

“Nanny sendiri kenapa belum tidur?”

Aku mengembalikan pertanyaannya. Dia melepaskan pelukannya kemudian merapikan rambutnya sambil berkata;

“Nanny sudah disuruh tidur sama Mom Jenny, tapi Nanny tidak bisa tidur. Nanny ingat kakak. Nanny mau ketemu kak Kevin. Aunt Aesy mau temani Nanny mencari Kak Kevin?”

Oh, pertanyaan itu lagi. Nanny sudah berkali-kali memintaku untuk menemaninya mencari orang yang benama Kevin itu. Entah orang itu hanya khayalannya saja atau bagaimana, aku juga tidak tahu. Mungkin itu hanya khayalannya dia. Tapi, matanya terlihat berbinar. Dia jujur.

Lalu terdengar seruan lantang, sumbernya dari lantai bawah. Rent house yang kutempati terdiri dari empat lantai. Pemilik rumah, Jefferson family, tinggal di lantai dasar. Aku menyewa lantai dua. Sebenarnya pada awalnya aku mengincar lantai empat, karena viewnya yang luar biasa, apalagi kalau sore hari dan malam yang cerah. Tapi aku keduluan oleh seorang gadis Amerika, namanya Sameerah Nicole. Dia juga seorang muslimah berjilbab.

“Nanny, it’s your bed time!! I’ll not let you be a sleepy Nanny in your choir class tomorrow!!”

“…”

Tak ada jawaban dari Nanny. Ia hanya mengerdip-ngerdipkan mata. Ia menggigit bibir bawahnya, sedangkan bahunya agak menurun. Ia kesal. Ia berkali-kali berbalik ke pintu rent roomku, yang terhubung dengan tangga ke lantai bawah. Ia menarik nafas lalu mendekatkan bibirnya ke telingaku. Ia berbisik.

“Aunt Aesy, we will find brother Kevin. But, not now. Aku harap Aunt Aesy mau membantuku.”

“ok dear. Don’t worry.” Aku menenangkannya.

“I love you Aunt Aesy!”

“I love you too…my nice Nanny.”

Nanny tersenyum. Gadis 7 tahun itu berlari ke arah tangga. Irama kakinya cepat dan teratur menapaki tiap anak tangga. Tak lama, terdengar suara teguran. Ia dimarahi.

Aku larut dalam iba.

Tapi, sama sepertiku, aku juga punya kesedihan.

…

Wanita-wanita Syurga...(a part of Wanita-wanita Syurga Novel...)

kau temukan rindu saat senja,

ketika kicau-kicau burung yang tlah bermuara pulang bersuka cita,

ketika daun nyiur menari menyalami nelayan hendak melaut,

ketika percikan rona mentari terbias alam merias permulaan malam,

ketika hati menyeru nostalgia-nostalgia berhias tawa bahagia,

dahulu kala, saat raga masih di dimensi yang sama,

ah, sama… begitupun hatiku dengan rindu yang masih sama…

atau mungkin lebih parah…

(London, August 23, 2010. From Aisyiyah to her beloved mother)

aku melamun…, semakin larut…

malam itu hawa Eastcote, sebuah kota di tengah-tengah London, agak dingin.

Tiba-tiba…

“Teng teng teng…teng…teng… !!!”

J

am mendentang duabelas kali, bagai teriakan sirene yang menyuruhku tidur. Hatiku protes. Aku sudah sering terganggu oleh jam besar itu.  Tapi bagaimana bisa tidur?, sedangkan tumpukan kertas yang ada di depan wajahku masih sinis menantangku. Ia menguji nyaliku, sampai kapan aku akan tahan menghadapinya. Ah, sungguh, kertas-kertas itu ikut-ikutan menambah kesalku. Puas aku memandanginya,  kutorehkan wajah ke arah jendela yang tak jauh dari meja tempatku menjamah setumpukan kertas sejak sebulanan yang lalu, atau mungkin lebih tepatnya tempat tidurku akhir-akhir ini. Ya…, mengerjakan, mengoreksi, mengerjakan, mengoreksi. Itu-itu saja yang terjadi di meja itu. Dan semua itu paling ampuh meninabobokan aku. Apalagi jika membayangkan wajah dosen penguji yang akan kuhadapi, yang akan terus menyerocos mempertanyakan isi tumpukan kertas itu. Ah, kepalaku makin berat membayangkannya. Duhai tesisku…

Aku menggeser  kursi yang dari tadi kududuki, dan berdiri pelan. Aduh!, tulang-tulangku terasa ngilu. Capek sekali. Ingin sekali rasanya dimanjakan kalau sudah dalam kondisi seperti ini. Ingin sekali dapat manjaan dari seseorang yang lemah lembut. Orang yang aku selalu menyebutnya sebagai pahlawan. Seorang wanita yang tak sekedar luar biasa, tapi sangat luar biasa. ”Ibu,…”, “ibu…”, “ibu,…”. Tanpa sadar, aku terus mengulang kata itu. Dan, tak bisa aku pungkiri lagi, kerinduanku pada beliaulah yang mengantarku pada lamunan panjang tadi. Aku menarik nafas berat, lalu  menghembuskannya. Rindu itu benar-benar telah mengurungku selama berbulan-bulan. Rindu itu terus merangkulku. Sudah empat tahun. Wajah yang sumringah nan bijaksana itu tidak kutatapi lagi. Tangan nan pengasihnya tak kujabat lagi. Ya, empat tahun yang lalu, di Indonesia.

Aku mematung. Kembali menatap jendela. Kali ini tidak sekedar kusen-kusennya, tapi jauh menerawang ke luar. Pandanganku menelusuri gedung-gedung yang lampunya masih berbinar, kemudian pindah ke arah taman kota yang kira-kira 20 meter dari rent houseku. Di luar masih ramai. Memang beginilah london, sejak dulu sampai sekarang ramainya. Aku sedikit memuji London. Cuma sebentar, hatiku kembali bergejolak. Perlahan aku mendekati jendela itu dan menyentuh kacanya. Lumayan berembun. Jendela berukuran 1x1 meter yang dilengkapi kaca riben itu sepertinya akan menggigil bulan ini. Ia harus kuat menahan taburan-taburan salju yang mulanya seukuran butir gandum, sampai yang sebesar buah blueberry. Aku kembali menyentuhnya, dan segera menutupnya rapat-rapat. Setiupan angin sempat mengelus wajahku. Jilbabku sedikit terlambai. Aku buru-buru membenahinya.

Tak lama, setapak demi setapak langkah kecil terdengar tertata menuju ke kamarku. Aku hanya acuh. Tapi tiba-tiba suara itu langsung berganti jadi suara anak gadis. Jernih sekali....

bersambung...

Rahasia Menembus Beasiswa ke Luar Negeri

Rabu, 06 Mei 2009 11:36
GEMA-Beberapa pekan terakhir ini banyak media massa yang menggembar-gemborkan
santernya beberapa Perguruan Tinggi (PT) di Singapura yang berburu mahasiswa brilian di
Asia, termasuk Indonesia.
Mereka rencananya akan dikuliahkan di Singapura dengan beasiswa dan pemberian Tuition
Grant (subsidi biaya kuliah) dari PT yang hunting mahasiswa brilian itu. Adalah Nanyang
Tecnological University, National University dan Singapore Management University, tiga di
antara universitas di Singapura yang mencari anak-anak bangsa Indonesia yang berprestasi
untuk dididik secara intens agar menjadi insan yang berilmu tinggi.
Belum lama ini, US Department of State, salah satu lembaga pendidikan yang dimotori oleh
menteri luar negeri Amerika Serikat, Hillary Clinton ini juga menawarkan beasiswa bagi
mahasiswa internasional.
Saat ini, Universitas Islam Negeri (UIN) Maulana Malik Ibrahim Malang patut berbangga
karena satu diantara sekian ribu mahasiswanya terpilih menjadi mahasiswa ya ng dikirim ke
Amerika untuk berkesempatan belajar disana. Siapakah mahasiswa yang berhasil lolos seleksi
untuk belajar di negeri Barrack Hosein Obama itu?
Ia adalah Nanang Zubaidi, mahasiswa fakultas Humaniora dan Budaya Jurusan Bahasa dan
Sastra Inggris UIN MMI Malang. Ia berhasil lolos menembus seleksi penyaringan mahasiswa
penerima beasiswa dari US Department of State. Nanang (demikian ia disapa) patut berbangga
dengan prestasi yang telah diraihnya itu. Pasalnya, untuk bisa mendapatkannya perlu
perjuangan yang tidak ringan.
Arema yang lahir pada 5 Juni 1987 ini harus menyingkirkan sejumlah “saingannya” dari
berbagai perguruan tinggi di Indonesia.
Setelah mengikuti seleksi yang cukup ketat, yang meliputi tes tulis dan wawancara yang
dilakukan di Unair, akhirnya ia dipastikan akan berangkat ke Amerika pada akhir Juni nanti.
Dengan tujuan OHIO University di kota Athens, USA.
Beasiswa yang berupa kesempatan belajar selama 8 minggu di universitas tersebut,
rencananya akan ia manfaatkan dengan sebaik-baiknya.
“Saya ingin mendapat dan memberikan yang terbaik.” Begitulah tutur mahasiswa yang pernah
menjadi President of Advanced English Debate Community UIN MMI Malang ini. Program di
OHIO University nanti menurutnya adalah seputar belajar bahasa, budaya, dan politik. Semisal
program kerjasama UIN dengan DEIKIN University kemarin. Menariknya disana mahasiswa
internasional, termasuk mahasiswa Indonesia akan masuk dikelas bersama mahasiswa OHIO
University. Mereka tidak dikelaskan sendiri. Akan tetapi harus melalui tes seleksi atau
penempatan terlebih dahulu. Mereka akan digabungkan bersama klub OHIO Program of
Intensive English (OPIE). Disini mareka akan digodok agar fokus pada TOEFL, self learning,
speaking dan lain sebagainya dalam bentuk English Club.
Bukan hanya itu, kemudahan dan fasilitas yang diterima adalah berupa akomodasi dan tempat
tinggal yang free.
Belum lagi ditambah dengan pemberian buku-buku referensi dari kampus setempat. Sebagai
penunjang studi mereka.
Satu dari delapan belas mahasiswa yang berasal dari berbagai perguruan tinggi di Indonesia ini
mengaku tidak terlalu sulit untuk menggolkan cita-citanya untuk bisa study abroad.
Mahasiwa yang sudah beberapa kali mengikuti kontes debat baik lokal maupun regional yang
diantaranya adalah EF di Unibraw, EF di UMM, EJVED di UM, EDC di ITS JOVED di UII, IVED
di Udayana, dan JOVED di Universitas Parahyangan mau berbagi tips dan trik agar lolos
menembus beasiswa ke luar Negeri.
Saat ditanya mengenai hal tersebut, Lajang yang punya hobi traveling ini tersenyum seraya
berkata, “Karena saya berani mencoba.” Ia juga menambahkan bahwa ia selalu menanamkan
pada dirinya untuk senantiasa ber-positive thinking.
Tidak ada trik khusus menurut laki-laki sederhana yang punya cita-cita menjadi Sociolinguistic
Researcher (Peneliti Sosiolingustik, Red) ini. Namun ia mengatakan “Tonjolkan saja
uniqueness (keunikan) pada diri kita.”

Rindu Diambang Senja

kau temukan rindu saat senja,

ketika kicau-kicau burung yang tlah bermuara pulang bersuka cita,

ketika daun nyiur menari menyalami nelayan hendak melaut,

ketika percikan rona mentari terbias alam merias permulaan malam,

ketika hati menyeru nostalgia-nostalgia berhias tawa bahagia,

dahulu kala, saat raga masih di dimensi yang sama,

ah, sama… begitupun hatiku dengan rindu yang masih sama…

atau mungkin lebih parah…

Semua Bahagia^_^

                                   

Hai kawan di sini dan di sana,

Sadarkah kau hidup kita amat berharga,

Begitu banyak karunia yang diberi-Nya,

Tapi sayang kadang kita tidak merasa,

Bahwa semua itu ada di sekitar kita,

Mungkin karena banyaknya masalah,

Yang menyapa disetiap langkah,

Tapi ingatlah itulah makna hidup di dunia,

Semua penuh dengan perkara,

Jalani dengan ikhlas maka ia pun berkah,

Tidak usah engkau bermuram durja,

Cukup hadapi dengan lapang dada,

Serta semangat yang tak pernah reda,

Mungkin juga hati kita berubah-ubah,

Kadang bahagia kadang juga sengsara,

Memang susah mengatasinya,

Tapi jika kau bisa,maka engkau jadi pahlawan yang sebenarnya,

Caranya mudah, tapi sulit dipercaya,butuh keyakinan yang membara,

Satu, dua, tiga,….!

Tegakkan punggungmu, angkat wajahmu, dan pandang ke depan, lalu…tersenyumlah….^_^

Tersenyumlah…

Hai kawan,

Hidup di dunia memang banyak susah,

Begitu banyak ragam masalah,

Tapi tenang, ada Tuhan yang menjaga,

Segala usahamu takkan sia-sia,

Semua susah akan ada bayarannya,

Cukup kau hadapi semua dengan bahagia…

Serta dengan semangat yang selalu naik kurva ^_^

EDUCATION, LOVE, AND CREATIVITY

by Fitriani

As a student, you can imagine when you are in the midday class and you must pay attention to the teacher or lecturer who is explaining the subject in front of you, but your mind is not present, your brain is busy remembering something else beyond the class’s topic, or you have fallen down to the sleepy circumstance. Then, after the class is over, you are back to the fresh condition as the duck takes to water. This condition is commonly found in our daily study in school, even in college. However, this is not your entire fault. Who will be comfortable with the teacher who actually must be the lovely source of knowledge, but in the practice he or she looks either as cold as marble or as dull as dishwater? I think you must ignore your conscience if you say that you enjoy to study in that condition. So, we can take a conclusion that a teacher must be creative and attractive in teaching. It is because he or she does not share his or her knowledge to a group of people who has permanent good mood, the same motivation, or the same reception ability.

However, those learners, as the object of the teaching process, contain different personalities with their different teaching materials reception; even we often find a very contrast capability between them. Good teachers surely understand that the students have a lot of variation in their abilities to receipt or demonstrate what they know. They certainly know some students are good test takers, others possess excellent orator skills, while others fare best through writing. Besides, some students are individual hands on learners while others work best in a group environment. In fact, those students must be responsible to completely understand the subject, whatever their manner. Yet, we may not forget, this is the teachers’ talent application time.

As the man, the learners’ motivation to study is naturally like a wave, sometimes going up, but may be later it is immediately low. In addition, we all know that teachers are the leaders of themselves and their students. It means they must be capable to control themselves and the class in bringing a suitable situation in order to develop the learning spirit of the students. So, what they should do is that they not only must increase their knowledge and skills, but also must keep their understanding of the students. The fact is, today’s students are completely different than those of just a few years ago. Nowadays, the students become more critical and sophisticated than previous generations. So, the teachers must be responsive to that and they however should learn how to be counselors. We can say this problem needs the teachers’ creativity to be solved.

Let’s explore the essence of creativity. In this case, I mean teacher’s creativity. We will discuss creativity within the classroom, between the teachers and the students. This creativity is an innate ability and a natural outcome of specific personality styles, or it can be stated as a set of guiding principles and procedures that can be analyzed, quantified, duplicated, and then taught to others in efficient ways. Moreover, we can define creativity as a mental process in term of ability in thinking and finding something that is different from before. Why? Because the world changes. We will find a bunch of differences. Deal or not, we will face several new problems too. We cannot beat them well by our old style. Here, we need creativity to solve each problem we find in our common lives or educational lives. The teaching profession should be endured well if a teacher wants to be creative. Besides, a teacher must be diligent in finding time to share ideas and follow the expertise and the creativity of others, not only within their own school, but also everywhere as well. This may be realized through a stronger commitment to attend conferences or seminars to develop their quality, or look for some teaching styles in websites. Shared perspectives, knowledge, and experiences with other teachers are some other keys of foundational building for creativity. Furthermore, creative teachers learn from life and the experience. Applying their own experience during the class, not just applying the books theory, positively makes a natural study circumstance, and it will be more interesting for the students. Therefore, they can understand soon and well.

In addition, in increasing expertise and better understanding of students, teachers must also be active to routinely seek out new information about knowledge that will they deliver. For many teachers, the textbook is their exclusive source of information. But, other teachers often increase their knowledge with other manner beyond reading. Internet has come as a good helper. This source may help to serve various materials, discussion with other professionals, hand on activities, or even trip into the community to better understand how the theories are taught in the classroom in the real life. The most creative teachers have come to the understanding that they no longer need to be the master of knowledge. They have come to the realization that they only need to use some informational sources so they can more effectively take their message and create that message into interesting acceptable form. These are lessons that all teachers can and shall learn.

Do you know Michael Jordan? He is one of the ex-NBA basketball players. I give you a little of his memoir. While he was asked by some journalists about his secret beneath his success in being the best basketball player in his era, simply he said, ‘because I love this game’. This answer maybe too short in our ears, but it directly catches the most substantial secret in living our life. That is love. Love is not anything, but anything can be started by love.
Actually, it is very difficult to deny that love is the most important energy source in spending our time in every step of our lives. Although love is abstract and sometimes difficult to define, mainly love is identical with commitment, sacrifice, gift, honesty, seriousness, and altruism. In addition, a lover must be total in struggling, giving, and making the object that he or she loves happy. The same philosophy is applied if we talk about how to develop our education quality and if we dream about future better education day to day.

However, the most expected part in raising the successful education is the educators, teachers or lecturers. They must lead their student to the bright future and cover them some capabilities that can be used in their real life, to develop themselves or their environment in taking part in this global life. The students not only need theories knowledge, but also need some constructions to build their positive self portrait, integrity, commitment, and competency.

Let us talk again about creativity. Actually, it is the essence or logic consequence of love. That is love which is possessed by the teachers to their job.  When the teachers sincerely love their profession, they will pour more attention to make the class better. They will be busy to introspect themselves, check their minus in teaching, and they motivate themselves to increase their knowledge and teaching ability. As the results, they can handle every problem they find in the class, such as when a student gets difficulties in understanding the topic. They can immediately maneuver their teaching style while they realize their students are sleepy in learning process. Besides, a creative teacher is able to act freely and attractively in the class during the teaching process although he or she finds a lack of facility around him or her.

Simply, the creative educators are the teachers or lecturers who educate the students sincerely, be able to against their selfish, be brave in solving the problem during or beyond the class, be diligent in advantaging even there is only a very lack of facilities during the class, be suitable to be counselor and guidance, be able to gain the class’s attention, and can be always be wait by their students. Consequently, only the educators, who have a pure love in their job, can bring all of these capabilities.

To be a creative teacher, someone must hug this job with love sincerely. If in the beginning you just force yourself to choose this profession because of some reasons, now, you must be conscious immediately. You must realize that you are now a leader of the generations. Through your hand, you can bring to the surface our nation’s education. Of course, you can do it by your hand, because you are a teacher, or a teacher candidate who will be a teacher. At last, because of your profession, you can lead the generation to their prosperous lives in the future.

*boleh disebarkan dengan menyertakan sumber.

Siri’: A Buginese’s power that is starting to shift

by:Fitriani

I am sure that you still remember the incident of Century scandal assembly that involved Ruhut Sitompul, Jusuf Kalla, and other Buginese. It is common if Ruhut addressed Kalla as Daeng if we conscious about Kalla’s origin. But, the unexpected reactions of Buginese appeared. While the others say that it is a very emotional representative of Buginese (or some others call it as The Bugis), I have another thinking about it as a Buginese, who was born, live, and grow with Bugis culture. It is not a one-sided sight. I just want to perform the noblest Buginese’s principal that has been a custom that is held tightly by Buginese generation. We state it as siri’.

That word may immediately make some of us frowning. So, I would like to explain about it. Honor, dignity or courtesy are the meanings of that word. The applications that are performed in the Bugis’ daily lives are siri’ as personal honor and siri’ as communal honor. If we consider it as personal honor, siri’ indicates the value of human being. This personal honor naturally turns up since someone was born. Besides, it follows the social degree of a person. The higher degree a person has, the more honors that must be developed. For clearing its meaning, easily I state if someone has a higher position in social lives, as a government or panrita, or as someone who has the higher education or tau acca, the society automatically consider that person as a noble one. Exactly, he or she must keep his or her behavior by avoiding any activities that may break his or her image and decrease the society’s respect. However, he or she is a pattern of society lives. Belongs to this siri’ or honor, Buginese more often define it as the value of lives and therefore they always ready to sacrifice everything including their lives to maintain their siri’. On the other hand, Siri’ can be a strong motivation that is used to gain Buginese’ successful in many aspects of their lives, for example, in educations, economics, and politics. Besides, as siri’ in communal, it can support a community to be prosperous and to be increased. As the basic principal, siri’ always be a catalyst to advance both individual and communal Buginese.

Looking deeply into Buginese’s social life will guide us to find the specific implementations of siri’. Those implementations are realized into five principles. They are ada tongeng, lempuk, getteng, sipakatau, and mappesona ri dewata seuwwae. We may translate them into English as truthful wording, honesty, steadfastness, mutual respect, and submission to the God. First, let me define ada tongeng. It is a principle which obliges each Buginese to speak the truth. The other definition of ada tongeng is every word that is expressed should bring the goodness for life. It means each people should always avoid any word that probably cause harm for other, individual or communal. Besides, let’s pay attention to lempuk. It obliges a person to act in the right actions. He or she should avoid doing something that is not true. After ada tongeng and lempuk, there are getteng and sipakatau. Getteng is the principle of attitude in which a person always has a distinct attitude in doing something. And, sipakatau interprets that a person should address another in the best way possible. The last principle, mappesona ri dewatae states every human being has to submit himself or herself to the God. Its implication is, each Buginese must have a religion and follow their religion’s rule well.

I bring you back to Ruhut-Kalla’s incident. In this case, there is no problem when you call a Buginese as daeng, moreover, if you are younger than that Buginese person. But, it is not an immaterial calling. It has a certain place and condition. In Bugis, daeng is only used to call our very close relation in an informal situation. But, I will not tell more about daeng. I only want to bring to the surface what the basic cause of Buginese’ unexpected reactions on that incident. Simply I said that it is siri’. Unfortunately, it is driven to the false extreme way. Often, while a Buginese thinks that he is humbled by someone, he immediately assumes that his siri’ is treated. Of course, some of those Buginese actions can be lead to unlawful things to protect or restore his siri’. Let’s look at the other misunderstanding of siri’, or I prefer to state it as the shifting of siri’ meaning. Nowadays, some Buginese think that siri’ is a feeling that comes from a discreditable treatment of others. Whereas, they forget that siri’ is better to be taken to the front. So, siri’ can be said as an obstruction to do the ashamed things. But, since siri’ gets some misunderstandings in its application in Buginese life, the using of siri’ is considered as the defense of personal or communal humiliation. The result is that it often causes conflict or even death. We cannot avoid that it is the result of the offended feeling.

However, as a Buginese, I just want to show to the Buginese or whoever reading this, that The Bugis has siri’ as the important principle. It must be brought to the right way, in order to realize a good relationship as the Indonesian people, even in developing ourselves and our country.

*boleh disebarkan dengan menyertakan sumber,.