PLASTIC

Dear Plastic,

I hope this letter find you well.

Plastic, you are incredibly attractive. You are mostly clear and crystal. Your charm is strongly radiated by your clearness and transparentness. Most or even all people are enchanted with you due those properties.

Plastic, I acknowledge your flexibility. You have the capability of being shaped easily so that you serve as the container for my food, the bottle for my mineral water, the wrapper for many items I have, and the bag for the goods that I buy from either a traditional market or supermarket. You cover and wrap most of my belongings I have. No space without you, Plastic. You are everywhere.

Plastic, your other appeal that appeals me is your generosity. How much do you cost, Plastic? You are almost priceless. One food container is just Rp 1.500, one disposable spoon is less than Rp 1000, one piece of plastic bag is just around Rp 500. Priceless. Due to the pricelessness, you get affordable for anyone, and people rush to utilize you in all situations and conditions.

Plastic, you look so modern. Despite your low price, modernity embeds in you. Your physical appearance in various shapes, sizes, and colours suggest that you are not traditionally processed, rather you have gone through modern-and-high-technology process. Your physical appearance could ‘beautify’ anything you cover and wrap. The mineral water seems more crystal and fresher as it is in a plastic bottle, and some rice and soup look more hygienic as the container is made of plastic.

Plastic, due to your physical performance, flexibility, generosity, and modernity, many people, including me, fall in love with you, and they get hegemonized. People, regardless of their age, gender, and social status are so dependent on you. No days without utilizing you. No space without you. No one is free from you. You truly hegemonize us.

Plastic, I highly appreciate your contribution to my life. I am so grateful for everything you have contributed to me. You ease me in many ways. You lighten my burdens. You make my life bright. Despite your countless contribution to my life, I feel that I need to minimize my dependence on you.  Being too much dependent on something or someone, including on you, is not wise. Let me minimize the use of you, and I will utilize reusable bottles, dishes, bags, and others. You are not annoyed, are you?  

OK, Plastic, thank you again for everything.

Tulungagung, Indonesia, October 28, 2022

Sincerely yours

Nurul

WHAT IS YOUR NAME?

 

                                                What is Your Name?

Some of us believe that a proper name is just a label which could distinguish the bearer from others. Shakespeare's legendary phrase what is in a name? in the story of Romeo and Juliet seems to follow this flow. However, others believe that a name is not merely a self-label, but a self-branding. This group believes that a proper name could build the self-image, could increase self-confidence, could influence the way of thinking and behavior of the bearer. A proper name that implies optimism and hopes might encourage the bearer stay motivated and optimistic in every condition. I am in the opinion that a proper name is not merely a label decoding the bearer. I am sure that names can represent many things, including histories, sound, form and function, even prayer.

Name is history. A proper name frequently represents important events happened in the past, the discoverer of a phenomenal discovery, and the year of a discovery. Mexican flu is the name of a disease which firstly spread in Mexico. This name clearly suggests that once upon a time, Mexico city was once the origin of a virus causing flu which spread all over the world. The temperature scale Fahrenheit is other case in point. The name of the scale is parallel with the inventor's name, a German scientist, Gabriel Fahrenheit (1636-1786), so that everybody knows the inventor. The year of discovery is another aspect of history which we frequently find in a proper name. The Novel Corona virus firstly occurred firstly in Wuhan in 2019, and the disease due to it was called Covid-19. The number of 19 serves as a reminder of pandemic causing almost all countries on earth paralyzed. The footprints of the history are traceable form the proper names Mexican flu, temperature scale Fahrenheit, and Covid-19. 

                                             Corona Virus and Covid-19

Name is the representation of sounds, shapes, and functions. A proper name is commonly parallel with the bearer’s sound, shape, or function. A house lizard which commonly creeps on the wall is called cicak in Bahasa Indonesia because of its sound. Cloth serves as the cover of lady’s head in Bahasa Indonesia is called kerudung whose meaning is cover. What about Corona virus? Corona is crown. The shape of Corona virus looks like a crown, so that the discoverer of the virus named it Corona. Cicak, kerudung, and corona are a few cases in point of the names representing sounds, functions, and shapes. 

Name is hopes. It means that a proper name radiates hopes, expectations, and prayer. Being good and strong persons in all aspects of life are commonly the wish of parents for their kids. Their hopes and expectations are traceable from the name they pin to kids. Parents wishing much their kids to be a doctor might pin HUSADA to the kids because HUSADA is commonly used as the name of hospitals. Corona, the name of a crown, is another name representing hopes and wishes. Corona, when named to a kid, suggests that the parents wish the kid's achievement deserve a crown.  

On the other hand, a proper name might radiate a negative image for the bearer. so that they get stigmatized. Spanish Flu was a flu spreading in 1918. The name might make Spain stigmatized even though the virus was not originated in Spain. Avoiding the stigmatization might be the reason of not using Wuhan Virus for decoding the virus which eventually spread over the world, in 2019. 

OK, Guys, name is not a simple issue, is it?  History, hopes, forms, and functions are just a few examples of things behind a name. What is behind your name, Guys?

Malang, October 21, 2022 

MY VISIT TO A WOMAN JAIL

 

MY VISIT TO A WOMAN JAIL

As a lecturer is part of society, I am required to be actively involved in the society as the implementation of Tridarma Perguruan Tinggi. Many activities that I do for the society, one of which is educating the society about a certain issue.

I did it last 2 weeks—September 29, 2022—in a woman jail (Lady Jail) in Tulungagung.  The visit was my first experience. As I arrived, I was welcome by warden wearing a light blue uniform. He asked me some questions regarding my identity and the purposes of my visit. I addressed that the purpose of my visit was to deliver my material to female prison inmates. He then asked me to present my identity card, and I showed it to him immediately. He then asked me to leave it and my mobile phone as well. I return for my identity card, he handed in a visit card to me. I objected to leave my mobile because I needed a camera to take some pictures. He agreed, and he asked a woman officer to escort me to the place where the weekly meeting is commonly held.

          The main entrance and the room in which the ladies stay is not so distant, just a couple of meters. As I arrived in the place and waiting for the preparation for the meeting done, another woman officer welcome me, and she introduced herself as the one who was in charge. We had a light conversation concerning many things, including the life in the jail.

          The place for the meeting was ready. It was in the veranda of the ladies’ room. It looked clean and neat, the floor was dustless. Small plants in small pots were in some spots. With the grey and white colours, the wall looked very solid and strong. A large mat was spread out in the veranda, and some ladies scrambled for seats on it. They had face-to-face position.

There were eighteen ladies sitting on the mat in the veranda. They all were welcoming me. As I mingled with them, I felt that we were psychologically distant. They starred at me, and so did I. I spread out my sight to all of them, and I found most of them with tattoo in their arms. Looking at their tattoos, my guts were almost shrinking. I was a little bit shocked with the situation, the one which I never find in my campus. My shock got more intense as I saw one of them held an around-four-month baby. “What?!, a baby stays here?!”, my soul and my mind loudly screamed. What I saw made me trembling, so that the materials that I had prepared suddenly disappeared.

                                                     I mingled with them

I tried to control the psychological unpleasantness by taking very deep breath for a couple of times. Alhamdulillah, I eventually managed to control my mind and my soul, so that I could greet them with the normal voice and tone. I introduced myself, and I told them that I would not teach them anything because I was not their teacher, rather, I would be their mate or friend. This strategy worked. They got much warmer, more friendly, and more open. They were willing to mention their names, even some of them felt free to talk about their cases. From the light conversation, I found that drugs case was the most dominant case among others.

The warmth among us enabled me to deliver my topic: ethics in mass media. Social media was not something new for them even though during in the jail they were not allowed to have a mobile phone. Prior to their jail life, social media was a bread-and-butter case, and they were sure it would be the case when they are released from it. The discussion on the social media ethics took place casually and warmly. Their eyes suggested that they were treated equally, none of us was a subordinate for the other. The discussion was closed with their promise to utilize social media as wisely as possible as they have the opportunity to use it. Alhamdulillah, I could make it. The duty was done successfully.

The visit to the jail taught me a lot. In spite of the fact that a jail is not a nice place to visit, it should be admitted that it is part of our society. It exists, and some of our society members are the inmates of it. It opens our eyes that life always binarily contradicts: east and west, top and bottom, right and left, right and wrong, freedom and unfreedom. Also, a jail suggests that the wheel of life keeps moving; at one moment it posits at the top, but on the other time it drops to the bottom. Let’s be grateful with our at-hand freedom, Guys. People in the jail are counting the days, waiting for their releasing day.

 

 Tulungagung, October 14, 2022