Start from Now

(Ditulis untuk mengikuti Lomba Essay International yang diselenggarakan oleh Goi Peace Foundation, Japan).

"All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them." (Walt Disney)
That is the quote that I like the most since I was in senior high school. Even though I live in a small village with limited access to the information and technology, I always remember that words to motivate myself to pursue my dreams. At that time, I heard and realized the importance of internet as one of information and communication technologies from which I can find the steps to achieve my ideals and aspirations. It is a very useful and powerful tool if we use it in a good way. If everyone can take the benefit of internet, I'm sure there will be a good future for them, for the country, and also for the world. 

However, the internet access is still expensive in my home country so that people get limited access to it. Compared to developed countries such as Germany whose internet access is 20 Euro per 16 megabyte and US which costs $20 per 50 mb, in Indonesia it costs Rp 200,000 (about US$20) per 1 mb per month. Therefore, only those who have enough budget to pay for internet access, most of whom live in the cities. Meanwhile, people in remote areas still don't have internet access at all. Not only do they need to spend much cost, but also they have little knowledge about internet or even not at all. I think this is the big problem. 

Indonesia is a very populated country (there are more than 200 million people). About 50% of its people are farmers and fishermen, most of whom live in suburban areas. Morover, many of them are youths who may be potential for the development of the country. Unfortunately, most of them are less educated and have no access to the latest information which they need to know. Seeing this, I am always asking to myself, “How can farmers know the best fertilizers for their plants? How can fishermen have the best method to sell their fish? How can youth share their brilliant ideas and show their potential skills? How can those people know about the vision and mission of presidential candidates for whom they will vote? How can those people get as much as information they need through internet if they have no access to it or cannot operate it at all?”

To overcome this, I think I want to conduct a research which I will begin with three steps. First, I will collect information about remote areas in my home country which have no access to internet. Of course, I need some helps from the local government to get some details of the areas. Then, I will propose to the government to provide low-cost or even free internet access in those remote areas. I'm glad that the government in my country has already planned this but it still has not been implemented yet. My task is to support this program in order that it can be performed in the near future. Finally, when those areas have enough access to internet, we need some educators to train people living in that areas about internet, and I will be one of them. Even though it is a simple thing for us, I believe that it may mean a lot to other people.

I think this is one of many problems in my country. The same case may also happen in other developing countries, where people living in remote areas don’t have the same access to the products of science and technology as those living in the cities. it is not about how complicated the technology is, but how much it can benefit all people in the world. I believe when all people are internet literate, they can be well-informed, self-independent, and most of all, they can respect each other, share positive things, and give mutual benefit not only with people in the same country but also with those from different parts of the world. We, either as the inventor or the user of scientific and technological products, are responsible for leading them to the way they are intended, i.e. to create a sustainable and peaceful world for all human beings and everything around them. However, to make the change into a better world, we don’t need to do complicated and hard things. Yet, we can begin with three Ss: start from ourselves, start from small things, and start from now!

KCB: Tontonan Sekaligus Tuntunan

      Berangkat dari novel best-seller Habiburrahman El Shirazy, film layar lebar “Ketika Cinta Bertasbih” yang kini tengah diputar di berbagai bioskop di seluruh Indonesia ini tampaknya sedikit memberi angin segar bagi para pencinta film tanah air. Film garapan sutradara senior Chaerul Umam ini, sebagaimana novelnya, melejit bukan hanya karena diperankan oleh para pemain yang memiliki integritas dengan tokoh-tokoh yang diperankannya ataupun karena film perdana yang mengambil setting di Mesir, tetapi juga karena di dalamnya terdapat nilai-nilai luhur Islam yang harus diterapkan dalam kehidupan sehari-hari. 
       Keteguhan dan konsistensi Azzam (Khalidi Asadil Alam) dalam memegang prinsip hidupnya terlihat pada saat Eliana (Alice Norin), seorang putri duta besar Indonesia untuk Mesir, ingin memberikannya “hadiah” berupa  french kiss karena ia telah menyuguhkan makanan istimewa pada salah satu acara kedutaan. Namun, Azzam malah menganggapnya sebagai “musibah”. Bagi anak muda masa kini, hal ini mungkin terdengar “aneh”, “kolot”,bahkan mungkin “gila”. Bagaimana mungkin suatu french kiss dari seorang wanita cantik, seksi, kaya, dan pintar sekelas Eliana ditolak mentah-mentah oleh tokoh (sok) suci bernama Khairul Azam itu. “Itu adalah prinsip saya… prinsip yang saya terapkan dari Alquran dan Assunah,” demikian tegas Azam.
        Proses taaruf pun digambarkan dengan baik pada film yang konon menelan dana hampir Rp 20 miliar ini. Furqon (Andi Arsyil) bertatap muka dan berbicara langsung dengan Anna Athofunnisa (Oki Setiana Dewi), calon istrinya, hanya pada saat meminang. Itu pun disertai keluarga masing-masing. Sebelumnya, Anna dan Furqon hanya mengetahui informasi tentang calon pasangan masing-masing dari orang-orang terdekatnya. Hal ini jelas mendobrak tradisi kalangan muda-mudi yang umumnya memulai hubungan dengan pasangannya dengan berpacaran sebelum berlanjut ke jenjang pernikahan. Tujuannya, untuk mengenal pasangan masing-masing secara lebih mendalam. Padahal, konotasi pacaran saat ini semakin negatif karena bukan lagi mengacu pada suatu proses melainkan pada hubungan fisik.
     Selain itu, sebagaimana pada film pendahulunya Ayat-Ayat Cinta garapan sutradara kontroversial Hanung Bramantyo, isu poligami pun disinggung di dalam film ini. Namun, berbeda dengan konsep poligami versi A2C yang samar, isu poligami pada KCB disajikan secara lebih proporsional. Dalam hal ini, Anna menyatakan dirinya tidak ingin dipoligami sehingga Furqon menganggapnya mengharamkan poligami. Akan tetapi, setelah Anna menjelaskan alasannya yang diperkuat dengan rujukan yang sahih, akhirnya calon suaminya itu menerimanya dengan sepenuh hati. Hal ini menunjukkan, betapapun sakitnya, beratnya, dan pahitnya sesuatu, apabila itu bersumber dari Alquran dan Assunah, maka kita harus menerimanya dengan penuh ketaatan. “Sami’naa wa Atho’ naa,” demikian istilah Alquran.
       Kendati tidak mengikuti tren perfilman Indonesia yang notabene berbau mistis, melankolis, tragis, dan dramatis, KCB terbukti telah mampu menyedot jutaan penonton, khususnya di Indonesia, yang merindukan film Indonesia yang berkualitas dan sarat makna. Oleh karena itu, tidaklah berlebihan jika film ini diputar serentak di delapan negara termasuk Indonesia dan layak mendapatkan berbagai penghargaan dari seluruh dunia. Mudah-mudahan ke depan, insan perfilman Indonesia lebih kreatif dan kritis lagi dalam menggali isi cerita, tentunya dengan dukungan pemerintah, dalam hal ini Departemen Kebudayaan dan Pariwisata, sebagai pemegang kebijakan. Dengan demikian, film-film yang diputar di Indonesia tidak hanya menjadi tontonan tetapi juga menjadi tuntunan.

Cecep Wijaya Sari

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"Pikiran Rakyat"