PENGGEMBIRA

 

Penggembira

          Sebagai kader dan pengurus ‘Asyiyah, saya sangat antusias menyambut muktamar ke 48 Muhammadiyah dan ‘Aisyiyah di Solo. Dengan penuh antusias saya dan teman-teman Pengurus Ranting MSI dan jamaah masjid At-Taqwa Sengkaling, Malang berangkat ke Solo dengan mengendarai bus pariwisata. Kami bukanlah muktamirin, tetapi kami hadir sebagai penggembira.

                                            Rombongan Penggembira

Setelah transit untuk bersih diri dan shalat subuh di Sukoharjo, kami sampai di Solo sekitar pukul 07.00. Bus berhenti di parkiran Kraton Mangkunegaran. Untuk bisa sampai di stadion Manahan (lokasi pembukaan Muktamar), kami harus berjalan sejauh 3-4km. Capek kah? Jelas capek. Mengeluh kah kami? Enggak. Kami tidak mengeluh karena hati sangat gembira. Pertemuan dengan penggembira lain di sepanjang jalan adalah hiburan tersendiri bagi kami yang bisa menipiskan rasa capek.

               We stay happy

Sesampai di lokasi stadion Manahan, kami betemu dengan penggembira dari kota lain yang jumlahnya ribuan. Di sini, kader dari berbagai kota di Indonesia berkumpul jadi saty. Laki-laki, perempuan, remaja, dewasa pratama, dewasa madya, hingga dewasa tua semuanya tumpleg bleg di sekitar Manahan. Lantas, apa yang dikerjakan di luar stadion? Mungkin bisa dikatakan we did nothing. Mengapa? Sebagai penggembira yang tidak terdaftar secara online, kami tidak bisa masuk ke stadion karena kapasitas stadion hanya 25 ribu (25.000) orang dan sudah dipenuhi oleh muktamirin, tamu undangan, dan penggembira terdaftar. Kami juga tidak memiliki hak untuk ikut agenda sidang muktamar, dan tidak pula memiliki hak suara hingga tidak bisa memilih ketua dan sekretaris umum. Pendek kata, hanya satu hak yang kami miliki, yaitu hak untuk BERGEMBIRA (meminjam istilah Pak Dahlan Iskan). Ya, hanya bergembira lah yang bisa kami lakukan di luar stadion.  

Banyak diantara kami yang menyalurkan kegembiraan atas terselenggaranya muktamar dengan duduk bergerombol sambil bercanda, ada pula yang berkumpul sambil menyeru yel-yel yang membakar semangat ber-Muhammadiyah, ada pula yang memantau acara di dalam stadion lewat videotron, ada pula yang sibuk bikin content video YouTube, dan ada pula yang memantau acara pembukaan yang tayang livestreaming lewat ponsel mereka.

                                 Kegembiraan di luar arena pembukaan

Apakah kami merasa merugi dengan status sebagai penggembira yang tidak memiliki hak apapun selain bergembira? Sama sekali tidak. Tujuan kami datang ke lokasi muktamar bukan untuk menuntut hak untuk bisa duduk di stadion dan menyaksikan RI 1 secara resmi membuka muktamar. Kami juga tidak menuntut untuk diberi hak suara, tidak pula ngotot minta kursi di tempat sidang. Tujuan kami datang adalah untuk memberi dukungan kepada para pimpinan persyarikatan, muktamirin, dan panitia penyelenggara dengan iringan doa semoga muktamar bisa berjalan lancar, aman, membawa kemaslahatan bagi umat, dan mendatangkan ridha Allah SWT. Cukuplah bagi kami mengetahui bahwa pimpinan persyarikatan serius memikirkan keberlangsungan dan keamjuan persyarikatan. Cukuplah bagi kami menyaksikan muktamar ini berjalan dengan sangat lancar, tanpa ada kendala yang berarti. Cukuplah bagi kami menyaksikan muktamar yang hampir zero plastic. Cukuplah bagi kami menyaksikan sidang-sidang yang tanpa huru hara dan pemilihan ketua umum dan sekretaris umum yang sangat adem, tanpa kemrungsung, tanpa suasana panas.  Dengan tujuan itu, lelah karena jauhnya perjalanan menjadi sirna. Haus lapar tidak terasa. Gerimis hujan tidak menyiksa dan biaya tidak lagi menjadi kendala.

                                                       kegembiraan dalam wujud lain

Semangat dan kegembiraan kami atas terselenggaranya muktamar agak sulit dinalar. Kami bergerak dengan hati, makanya apa yang kami lakukan hanya bisa dipahami dengan bahasa hati pula. Dengan sepenuh hati pula kami berdoa semoga kepemimpinan yang dilahirkan dalam muktamar yang kami hadiri bisa membawa kemaslahatan bagi warga persyarikatan, rakyat Indonesia keseluruhan, dan umat semesta. Sampai jumpa di muktamar berikunya.

 

Malang, 22 November 2022/27 Jumadil Akhir 1444H

 

 

Why do I assign you to weekly write?

 

Dear Students of TBI 5A and TBI 5C

Assalamualaikum Wr. Wb….

Hope that this short letter finds you well. Hope you always have good days. Hope that you all stay healthy, stay active, and stay optimistic.

Guys, as I have explained in my course outline, the activity in Creative Writing class is blogging through which you are required to weekly write a composition and post it in your personal blog. To some of you, it is an enjoyment, but to some others, it is a burden. Whatever your view on this activity, I would like to share my reasons of assigning you to weekly write. I assign you to routinely write and share in your blog because, to my view, routine and consistent writing has a number of benefits.

First, weekly writing in English enables us to use English in real communication. This is our opportunity to practice the grammar knowledge we have been trying to master, and this is our chance to apply the theories in writing we have been learning, and this is the room where we can utilize the vocabulary items we have been storing in our mind. Through routine writing, the foreign language we are learning is not merely linguistic rules, but rather a real means of communication. English is not merely knowledge, but it could turn to be our habit, our way of communication, and our way of thinking.

Second, routinely writing trains us to think systematically. Writing is different from talking that allows us to express ideas unsystematically. Writing requires us to be ‘neat’ in many ways. We are required to develop sentences using subjects and predicates properly, and we are demanded to look for the most proper words and expressions to represent our ideas. Besides, we have to organise ideas in such a way to make them understandable for readers, and we have to select which ideas need foregrounding, backgrounding, or leaving out. This leads us to be constantly systematic in thinking. As such, routine writing means routine learning to systematically think. Some people utterly say that clear writing is a sign of clear thinking.

Third, by weekly writing, we can be better writers. Does writing need grammar knowledge, theories in writing, and huge number of vocabularies? Yes, it does. In some cases, grammar affects meaning, so without grammar messages cannot be conveyed clearly. Theories in writing guides us how to build cohesion and coherence in our composition without which ideas might be scattered everywhere. Vocabulary items are the small things which verbalize and articulates our mind. They, however, are meaningless unless we utilize them in practice. No need to wait until we are expert in everything; we can use the knowledge at hand, and star writing now. Writing is the best way to fluently write. Writing is the shortcut to be writers. The more frequently we practice in writing, the more fluent we will be. While writing, we can improve all the necessary ‘ingredients’ in writing: grammar, vocabulary, and others.

All in all, we can get a number of benefits form routine writing. Linguistic knowledge is not the only ‘ingredient’ we need to be skilful in writing. The consistency in practice, the courage to publish, and the willingness to keep learning are the other ‘ingredients’ we need to be writers.

Guys, you may agree or disagree with my ideas. Should you have something to share, please do not hesitate to contact me. Have a nice weekend.

Wassalamualaikum Wr. Wb.

 

Malang, November 17, 2022

Sincerely yours,

Nurul Chojimah

UNIQUE

 

UNIQUE

Disclaimer: This writing is not tafsir. This is a short description on the uniqueness of  linguistic facts I find in the Surat Maryam. I do not have any capacity to write the tafsir of Qur'an verses.

Guys, what appears in your mind whenever you hear the term unique? In a simple term, unique means unusual and special. If something is unique, it means that it has special and unusual characteristics.

 I am sure you all are familiar with Surat Maryam (Mary), one of the surats in the Holy Book Al-Qur’an. To my view, this surat is unique. The first uniqueness of is its opening expression. Different from other surats whose opener is either praises to Allah, oaths, information, or commands, this surat is opened with a series of single Arabic letters (muqaththa’ah letters): Kaf-Ha-Ya-‘Ain-Shad. The series of the letters sound unique since the message is not conveyed as clearly as in other opening expressions. The series of those letters do not form a word, so that it looks superficially meaningless.

Regarding the meaninglessness of those letters, some ulamas opine that it is the miracle of the Qur’an and none but Allah alone knows the meaning. Other ulamas, however, are in the opinion that the series of letters is the strategy to attract the attention of mankind. This belief sounds plausible since addressees might easily get tuned in to a new topic if it is introduced in an uncommon way such as silence for a moment. Keeping silent for a while, an addresser might attract his/her addressees’ attention. In the context of this surat, the readers’ and listeners ‘ attention will be easily directed to the surat as it proceeds from a series of letters, rather than words or phrases whose meanings are easily understood.

The second uniqueness of this surat is that it is womanish. The title of the surat is the name of a holy lady, Maryam or Mary. It is unique since out of 114 surats, this is the only surat using a female name. Names other than Maryam perpetuated in the Qur’an are Ali Imran and Lukman, but they are male names. In addition, the surat depicts the holy lady with feminine properties: her way of clothing, her pregnancy, and her relation with her son (the baby Isa). In short, the state of being womanish is traceable from the name of the surat and the description of Maryam. 

The surat gets more unique as it is recited by Syaikh Hicham Lharraz, a Moroccan Qur’an reciter. His recitation is unique. He is never monotonous in reciting Qur’an verses. The same surat might sound differently when he recites it in different prayers on different days. His recitation is zig zag. At one time, his tune is stomping with high pitch, and then he could move to the gentle and soft rhythm with low voice. The movement between high-stomping tune and gentle tune in low voice makes his recitation unique and cool. Awesome. You can enjoy his recitation on the Surat Maryam in the following video, Guys. 

In a nutshell, the opening expression, the name of the surat, and the description of the holy lady Maryam or Mary are the uniqueness of the Surat Maryam. The beauty of the surat incorporated with the beauty of the reciter's voice makes the Qur'an verses more enjoyable. It is nice to listen to them in while working, reading, driving, and others. The Holy Book Al-Qur’an indeed contains countless of supremacies

Malang, November 10, 2022

SBY, JK, Jokowi

 

SBY, JK, Jokowi

Each language has its own uniqueness. One of the apparent uniqueness of Indonesian is the massive use of abbreviations and acronyms. Abbreviation is a simple proses. It is the process of shortening a phrase by taking the initial letter of each word. DPR is the short version of Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat, DPL is taken from Dosen Pembimbing Lapangan, and KPK is formed from the phrase Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi. In short, abbreviation is initialism.

Acronym is a little bit different from abbreviation. It is the process of forming words by taking some parts of each word in a phrase. In general, there is no rules governing the acronymization. Despite it, I can note the most three commonly patterns in Indonesian. First, the acronym is formed by combining the first syllable of each word such as PROKER, taken from Program Kerja.

Second, the formation is by taking the first syllable of each word and added with 1 or 2 letters such as PUSKESMAS (Pu sat Ke-se-hat-an Ma-sya-ra-kat). The first syllable of the first word—Pu—is added with the first letter of the second syllable: -s, forming -pus. This is combined with the first syllable of the second word—Ke—added with one letter of the next syllable—s—forming a new ‘syllable’ –kes, and the third word—Ma—added with the first letter of the next syllable—s—becoming -mas, all of which form PUSKESMAS. 

The similar process is found in KORPRODI (Koordinator Program Studi). The word ‘koordinator’ has 5 syllables: ko-or-di-na-tor; ‘program’ has 2 syllables: pro-gram; ‘studi’ consists of stu-di. To shorten the first word, the first syllable—ko—is added with the second letter of the second syllable—r—becoming -kor. The -kor is combined with the first syllable of the second word—pro—and the last syllable of the third word: -di, all of which form a new word: KORPRODI.

Third, the formation is random, or there are no rules governing the form of acronyms. SAMSAT (Sistem Administrasi Manunggal Satu Atap) is one in point. The acronym is formed by combining the initial letter of the first three words: Sistem Administrasi Manunggal, forming SAM, and the first syllable of the fourth word—sa—added with the second letter of the last word: -t, all of which form SAMSAT.

So what? At least, there are two notes worth discussing. Abbreviation and acronym are never constant, nor fixed. One Indonesian word or may have a number of abbreviations or acronyms, depending on the context. The word perjalanan is abbreviated in -P in SPPD (Surat Perintah Perjalanan Dinas), but it turns into -perja in PERJADIN. The word ‘dosen’ is shortened into -D in DPL (Dosen Pembimbing Lapangan), but it turns into -dos in DOSPEM (Dosen Pembimbing).

The ease of the pronunciation is the main principle in the formation of abbreviations and acronyms. Koordinator Program Studi is shortened into Korprodi instead of KOPROSTU because Korprodi is easier to pronounce and nicer to listen. Dospem is clearer in the ears, and nicer to pronounce than Dopem. Third, there is no any institution having the authority to form abbreviations and acronyms. Any Indonesian speakers may create and spread abbreviations and acronyms. As long as the abbreviations are easy pronouncing and nice listening, they will be widely accepted.

All in all, language is one of the distinguishers between human and other creatures. Through language, we can see the human’s creativity in arranging words to form sentences, and in shortening phrases into abbreviations and acronyms. The massive use of abbreviations and acronyms suggests that Indonesians are linguistically creative. Almost all terms are likely to be shortened, abbreviated, and acronymized, including the symbols of the state: President and vice president. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Jusuf Kala, and Joko Widodo are three figures who were once and is still the symbols of the state whose names are abbreviated and acronymized: SBY, JK, Jokowi.

The use of language can be more efficient through abbreviations and synonyms. The energy to state long phrases can be reduced, and the space for writing them can be saved if we use abbreviations and acronyms. Besides, being shorter, a long term might get more memorable. Easy to memorize. Memorizing short terms is much easier and easier than memorizing the long ones. Short is indeed nice. Do you agree with me, Guys?

Malang, November 4, 2022

 

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