Rabu, 10 Februari 2016

Book Review: Melipat Jarak



Melipat Jarak
source: www.goodreads.com
I got a really interesting book from my best friend for my birthday, it is titled as Melipat Jarak by Sapardi Djoko Damono. It consists of the poems made by Sapardi from 1998-2015, that's why it is titled as Melipat Jarak, meaning folding the distance.
I always love the poem made by Sapardi, the most famous poems are probably Hujan Bulan Juni and Aku Ingin Mencintaimu dengan Sederhana. So, when I got this book as a present, I got really excited! There are many poems in the book, my favorite there is Sajak-Sajak Kecil tentang Cinta


SAJAK-SAJAK KECIL TENTANG CINTA


/1/
mencintai angin
harus menjadi siut
mencintai air
harus menjadi ricik
mencintai gunung
harus menjadi terjal
mencintai api
harus menjadi jilat



/2/
mencintai cakrawala
harus menebas jarak



/3/
mencintai-Mu
harus menjelma aku

(translated)

Little Poems about Love

/1/
to love the wind
has to be rustle
to love the mountain
has to be steep
to love the fire
has to be lick

/2/
to love the horizon
has to slash the distance

/3/
to love You
has to become me
The poem, in my opinion, is a kind of admiration to God. That to love Him, people need to be themselves. My favorite poem is still Hujan Bulan Juni, though, but that doesn't mean this book isn't good.
I really suggest this book for those who love poems or those who are really interested in learning Indonesian literature. The book is the compilation of contemporary poems made by Sapardi Djoko Damono, one of the most famous poet in this era. Enjoy!

Education to Build a Better Future for All

source: www.thisissierraleone.com
Education, according to Oxford Dictionary, is the theory and practice of teaching.  Today, education is one of the topics most often discussed all over the world; it is said that education is responsible for making human civilization the way it is right now and therefore is also the main concern to build a better future for us all. The question now is, how would education improve our quality of living in the future? Is there any of the education principles that needs changing?

In my opinion, the reason of education’s importance is because it is the guidance of what the currently-young people will do in the future; when they will already have the strategist positions to change rules, principles, etc.  If those successor generations study well, they will be able to decide wisely so that the effect of the choice will bring good to everyone. There are several definitions of “well-studied”, it really varies between people, but by considering the way the world is working at the moment, I guess “well-studied” that could bring prosperity for all is not seen from the students’ scores in the report card, or their ranks at school, their ability to solve Math questions, etc. Those things, unfortunately, are the way most people think at this era. At the very least, the way my country’s residents think.

There are three important things that are missing from the current education curriculum, in my opinion; first, schools today don’t teach leadership and entrepreneurship. Second, students are being given only theories, not how the theory could help them in their daily life. Third, the system has made the students focused only on how to get good scores, not on enjoying the beauty of learning. Those things, in my opinion, are the things that define the quality of people.

Leadership. Why is that even an important thing? In order to get success, people need leaders. Good leaders. Not just a good leader for the society, but at the very least, people should be taught how to be a good leader for their own selves. A good self-leader will not be late, throw rubbish anywhere carelessly, or do any other thing that is against the society’s norm. In my opinion, obedience is one of the most important things that could bring society into a better way of living. Before we are able to lead, we need to obey, so that is why leadership needs to be taught at school. Beside, the condition of the world right now demands people to stop being an employee; and instead, begin businesses that could open new employments. The world right now needs entrepreneurs, and to start to be one, people need to have bravery and leadership.

Now, the questions probably have shifted to the way of teaching leadership in school. Do we need to arrange a new subject? In my opinion, it is unnecessary, but to make that shows that the policy makers concern at the problem seriously. The leadership, in my opinion, should be taught in every occasion. This is the solution of my second point; that education needs not only to enlighten students with new knowledge, but also on how to use it to solve daily life problems. The condition should not be applied only for teaching leadership, but also for students to understand each topic in every lesson. This way, the school will not only be preparing great theorists for the future, but also problem solvers.

Innovation is also an important thing for future’s life. In order to innovate, people need to be excited in learning new things first. Now, how would students be excited if what they learn is to be judged by how their scores in tests are? Instead, the joy of learning would be replaced by the fear of being false. In fact, being false is what the scientists had faced before their invention changed the world. That’s not only the problem showing up; when students fear scores too much, they could choose wrong paths to be good, like cheating, etc. That kind of attitude is what would make students become a problem in the future; cheating, in my opinion, is how corruptors learn to do wrong, and corruptors is a really major problem right now.

There are three important things that education right now needs to change; teaching leadership, solving daily life problems and that learning is a joy and what enlightens people. With those things, there is no doubt that education will be able to build a better future for all.

Getting the Yellow Jacket: Ways of Entering Universitas Indonesia

Universitas Indonesia's logo, the makara.
(source: id. wikipedia.org)
The University of Indonesia (UI), is one of the best universities in my country. Every year, many high school students from all over Indonesia (and some other countries, perhaps) struggle to get into the college. With the name of the country used to name the university, in my opinion it's not a strange thing.

An advertisement that inform about the usage of jakun.
(Source: www.anakui.com)
There are three ways for all students to enroll to the university that is famous by its yellow jacket (or jaket kuning in Indonesia, often abbreviated as jakun): via Seleksi Nasional Masuk Perguruan Tinggi Negeri (SNMPTN) Undangan, Seleksi Bersama Masuk Perguruan Tinggi Negeri (SBMPTN) and Seleksi Masuk UI (SIMAK UI). One other way is also available for those who won the National Science Olympiad (Olimpiade Sains Nasional or OSN), but the choice of faculty is restricted; the medalists are only able to choose the faculty that study about the lesson he/she won.

1) SNMPTN Undangan is an enrollment that based itself on the scores given by school in students' three-year (or two-year for accelerated student) study. Every school gets its own quota; the determination of this is an authority for the universities joining the program, the universities owned by the country. The students of each school are then ranked according to their scores; especially the scores of the lessons tested in the National Examination (Ujian Nasional or UN). For those who chose Maths and Science (MIA) branch, the lessons are Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Bahasa Indonesia and English. Social (IIS) students should be more concerned about his/her Mathematics, History, Geography, Sociology, Bahasa Indonesia and English. There is one more branch, the Languange Branch (IBB), but I don't know what subjects are tested for this branch. The website for this enrollment is snmptn.ac.id.

2) SBMPTN is the enrollment which included testing as its way of selecting new college students for public universities. The test subjects are mostly the same like the ones tested in the UN; there are two question sheets need to be answered, Tes Kemampuan dan Potensi Akademik (TKPA) which includes Basic Maths, Bahasa Indonesia, English and some types of psychotest (numeric, verbal and figural tests) and Tes Kemampuan Dasar (Sains dan Teknologi or Sosial dan Humaniora) which consists of subjects tested in UN MIA and IIS, according to the branch the participants choose. Even so, some of the materials are not taught in high school. Most of them are, though, so there's no need for the students to worry if they have studied hard in their school times. The questions are much harder than the questions asked in UN, so keep practicing is really the key to success in this way of enrollment. The website for this enrollment is sbmptn.ac.id.

3) SIMAK UI has the same type with SBMPTN; it is a test. The quality of the questions are even harder than the SBMPTN, though. The quota for each faculty in this test is also very limited.

The university, as well as another public university, offers a kind of scholarship named as Bidikmisi. The Bidikmisi is applied together with the SNMPTN Undangan, as far as I know.

More information about the ways of enrollment to UI can be checked in penerimaan.ui.ac.id.