Saturday, December 22, 2012

The Case of Prematurely Marriage in Madura

Discussing prematurely marriage, admitted or not, the society of Madura is often shown as a good example. This is based on the reality in Madura’s society dealing with marriage; many parents have been seemingly nice to marry their children prematurely.

It is said premature because the child’s old is not enough for making family. Usually, the two couples are still under 17 years old (a phase of innocence and childhood). It is also said premature because many families were failed in that. Violences and cutting human rights often exist around the marriage.

The prematurely marriage is not something glad to do, but it has to be avoided and hit so that it will not hold our young generation. The prematurely marriage often makes future gone, and because of it, a young can not do anything. Furthermore, according to expert’s opinion, the prematurely marriage can cause undeveloping society in anyfield, such as education, economics, politics, and in sustaining country’s development. The point is that we have to avoid the prematurely marriage as well as we can.

In Madura, the prematurely marriage was operated long time ago. It is not found in Madura’s today. I think, the case of prematurely marriage, had not only been emerging in Madura’s society, but also in other areas throughout Indonesia. It can be said finished since early 20th century. It means after this country getting its independence at 17th of August 1945.

Friday, December 21, 2012

Menyelamatkan Bahasa Indonesia

Ada apa dengan bahasa Indonesia kita? Apakah ia sedang dalam masalah berat, sehingga kita harus menyelamatkannya? Ini adalah beberapa pertayaan untuk mengawali tulisan yang merupakan sebuah refleksi ini.

Disadari atau tidak, keberadaan bahasa Indonesia kita semakin hari semakin menghawatirkan. Ia tak ubahnya orang tua, yang dihantam di sana-sini oleh orang-orang muda tak diundang. Ia seharusnya awet muda, tapi apa mau dikata, tak ada yang peduli dengannya. Angin hedonisme dan konsumerisme pun berhembus kencang menerpanya, sehingga ia harus segera mencari pegangan yang kuat sebelum terlambat.

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Beberapa waktu yang lalu, saya mengikuti sebuah seminar nasional di lingkungan kampus IAIN Sunan Ampel Surabaya, tepatnya di Gedung Self Access Centre (SAC) lantai 3. Seminar seputar perpolitikan nasional itu mengundang beberapa narasumber yang semuanya terdiri dari dosen IAIN Sunan Ampel, semuanya adalah akademisi.

Seminar berjalan dengan lancar. Namun tiba-tiba saya merasa gelisah, ada beberapa kata-kata yang dilontarkan narasumber yang terdengar kurang pas. Ini bukan masalah SARA, tapi semata-mata masalah penggunaan bahasa Indonesia yang baik. Ya, saya berpikir bahwa narasumber itu kurang bisa (mungkin karena kurang biasa) menggunakan bahasa Indonesia yang baik. Mengapa saya berpikir demikian, akan saya tunjukkan.