Black and White Policy

"We practice politics with principle. If we do not agree (against something) we will say it with its all consequence"

Masyumi, a Muslim political party in 1945-1960 era, is considered as "rigid" political party due to its black-white policy toward different issues in parliament. The above quote is the reply to such mockery, by its chairman, M. Natsir -as quoted by Yusril Ihza Mahendra in "100 Tahun Muhammad Natsir: Berdamai Dengan Sejarah."

Be firm and consistent, you will reach a success

I never think that what I have done within last ten years will bear fruit in a broader scale. The only thing came to my mind, in that time, is that I have to do a religious duty called da'wa (preaching). This da'wa includes introducing Islam -in an organized way- to students and working in a nation-wide network student organization. Every semester I would control whether they send recruitees to basic level training. Otherwise I would ask them to hold their own training and invite other branches to train their young cadre together. In fasting month Ramadhan, I usually invite some of them, who already completed their term as committee, whether branch, regional or even national level- to my house and breaking the fasting together. (later on this tradition also involves active committees)

Cikarang, what a change

I was born in this town 44 years ago, on 18 December 1964 exactly. My childhood was decorated by the happiness of being a town boy who goes to school in the morning, learn Quran and Islamic teachings in the afternoon and playing football in the evening. Just in front of my village, across the street, there is an ample ricefield, in which I used to play kites in planting season and joining peasants in their harvest time.
My elementary school building is located between acres of this ricefield. When break time comes, we just need to jump over a water tunnel, that separates our school building and the ricefield, and play among straws of paddy, as far as we want. Sometimes we were not aware how long we play, and when we returned to classroom the teacher is already back, standing and ready to punish us for being late.

Can an Islamic Foundation spread nationwide?

A junior when we are in boarding school, came to me and ask a challenging question, can an Islamic Foundation spread nation-wide, having many branches and representative like mass-organization? My answer is definitely yes. But when asked whether there is an example for this case, honestly I cannot provide a good answer. Probably we are the first example if we can realize the dream.

Whither PII?

A short message came into my mobile phone stating: "Rendered in peace to Illahi Rabbi, Prof. Anton Timur Djaelani, today, Sunday 15th February 2009. He will be buried in his tranquil village Tasikmalaya".
Anyone who is and was member of Indonesian Muslims Students' Organization (IMSA or PII in bahasa, stands for Pelajar Islam Indonesia) would be certainly feel condolence by the news. Why not?

MM received Award, for what?

On 7th February 2009 Mochtar Muhammad (called "MM" among Bekasi-ers), Mayor of Bekasi (city) received an award from Ministry of Man Power and Transmigration for his role in encouraging people to work, with his famous slogan "Pokoknya Harus Kerja" (PHK, must work anyway) which diverts the original meaning of the abbreviation PHK-Pemutusan Hubungan Kerja (termination of employment).

Some people might wonder why such an award is given to a mayor of a city in which unemployment rate is still high by national standard. But for other, it is not strange since MM is "flamboyant" mayor, who always tries to make his bosses happy, without taking care much about his own people. Last year, instead of standing as leader in Independent Day commemoration in the city (as normally should be), he chose to stand by the side of Megawati Soekarnoputri for the same programe, in her private luxury mansion in jalan Diponegoro, Jakarta!

Conflict: Natural Feature of Islamic Institutions?

List of works are await before me to follow-up, as a result of annual meeting of a high learning institute's committee, at the beginning of February. This meeting is considered regular (and ordinary) in a such high learning institution (Sekolah Tinggi Haji Agus Salim), and intended to be so by this institute. It was the first meeting, attended by all elements: lecturers, institute's committee and board members of its oversight institution (Haji Agus Salim Foundation).

Hikmah Sebuah Independensi

Hingar bingar kampanye partai politik melalui baliho, stiker, umbul-umbul, bendera, iklan di TV dan radio semakin hari semakin memanas, menuju hari-H pemilu 14 April 2009. Keputusan MK yang membatalkan klausul undang-undang perolehan kursi seseorang ditentukan oleh daftar urut, membuat hasil pemilu mendatang semakin tidak menentu. Bisa jadi caleg dengan nomor urut 3 atau empat memperoleh suara lebih banyak dari caleg nomor urut pertama dari partai yang sama, di daerah pemilihan (dapil) yang sama. Itulah resiko dimana sistem pemilihan tidak mengikut distrik. Tidak heran misalnya dalam suatu dapil diperoleh 4 orang anggota legislatif dari partai yang berbeda. Padahal dalam sistem distrik, hanya satu calon yang memperoleh suara terbanyak yang mewakili distrik itu.