tears to the brave heart

wednesday, july 9^th, me and my friend from seputar indonesia newspaper, denny irawan, decide to leave delicious-lunch in a seafood restaurant. whereas, the lunch was held by partai keadilan sejahtera (PKS)-which invited all tangerang’s journalist. we had to leave the press conference because of the news that we heard happened in alaska, united states of america.

that day, a family in larangan, tangerang city, had lost one of family man. pungkas tri baruno (20 years old)-the name of the youngest child in that family-died in mckinley mountain’s peak, alaska. temporarely opinion, he died because of bad wheather. pungkas was one of climber scouts from indonesia which had a mission to stood the indonesian flag in the 20.420 feet mountain.

need about a half hour for me and denny to reach larangan with my honda supra x. it was about 1.30 pm when we arrived to the small-unpretentious house. what i saw first was some bunch of flower and an awning in front of the house. when we entered the house, an old man which holding a picture, suddenly woke up and reaching my hand. he said friendly “please..please, come in.”

his white moustache made him looks friendly. white koko shirt that he wore also made me free from worry. i convinced myself that this person was a good resource person -an informant that easy to talk with. but, his eyes looked so dull. i wasnt sure, but mumpangat (52 years old)- the name of that old man, seemed had crying lot.

mumpangat is pungkas’s father. i feel so sad when he shows me the picture. pungkas had a good body. tall and handsome. the lost of the young boy must made the whole family felt distressed. but I the real sufferer came from pungkas’s mother face . ismiharti, the 52 years old woman, just sat down in the floor. she looked faint and brittle. clearly, she wasn’t determine like her husband

“in fact, he never had a girlfriend,” said ismiharti, softly. that was one of her confession that steady humming me until now. it’s hard to forget how a mother like her lost her favorite’s children. behind the glasses, her eyes was tear-stained. when her relatives came and gave her an embrace, she cried again. in the corner, i (who was nobody there), only could stare the emotional situation.

so as the confession from one of his college friend. “pungkas spent his spare time in musholla, when other student choose to go to the canteen,” said first year student of interior design, mercu buana university, risky. i had met risky, frizzy hair student, when the dead-body of pungkas arrived in terminal haji, soekarno hatta airport on 18^th july. in there, i also found adhyaksa dault, sport and youth minister of Indonesia, cried, when seeing pungkas’s body for the last time.

so, i wasn’s surprise when adhyaksa announced that pungkas’s name would be lasting as the name of library in Indonesia. when me and denny escorting the ambulance-which carrying pungkas’s body-with hundred else vehicle, the coconut shoot’s flag was everywhere. i was just realized, this kid was so inspiring, not only for million teenager in Indonesia, but also for journalist who report his story, like me.

notes:

everytime i think about pungkas, i always remember bondan, my younger brother. no doubt, bondan’s personality very similar with pungkas. bondan was a climber too. and he was born in 1988, so was pungkas.

munarman

“munarman keeping his promise”…that was the title of a backside article in republika, last tuesday (10/6). that article was written by my friend, m ikhsan shiddiqie (c54). i wasnt surprise with that news..

i still remember, first time i met munarman. approximately, three months a go in front of denmark embassy, in kuningan, south jakarta. in there, hizbut tahrir indonesia (often called HTI) was demonstrating denmark government because of muhammad carricature in jyllend posten newspaper.

that time, i was looking for someone to be interviewed. then i asked a demonstrant: “who is the leader of this parade?” then that guy answered “he is not the leader, but i suggest you to interview him.” he appointed to a man with black glasses and white shirts. among that parade, he looked so different, because all people seemed to wear garments with black colors. with his neat suit, he looked very eccentric…

then i interviewing him..

when we talk, his name suddenly called by an orator. then he said excuse to me and reach the microphone to orating above a vehicle-parked in front of that embassy. few seconds later, his piercing voice echoed that area. his loud voice very represented his character. stubborn and resolute…

that was my first impression about munarman..

then, a month later we met again. this time ini a masjid in lenteng agung. he was one of three key panelist in an interactive dialog about ahmadiyah. from the topic, i knew that his opinion about ahmadiyah very clear: disband ahmadiyah, or die!!

what i didnt understand is in what capacity he was invited in? i remind that the leader of majelis ulama indonesia (MUI) and representative from front pembela islam (FPI) attended that dialog. but munarman? who is he? forum umat islam (FUI), which organized that dialog claimed that he was one of influence muslim in indonesia..

i was just believe that statement recently, when he was being fugitive by polda metro jaya..

the police was looking for him because he was led the ‘komando laskar islam’ to attack ‘aliran kebebasan beragama dan berkeyakinan’ (AKBB) in the incident of monas in 1st june 2008..

but finally, after being fugitive for 10 days, he proved his promise to gave up to the police when ’surat keputusan bersama’ (SKB) ahmadiyah had released to public. now he must stayed in jail with his comrade from FPI, habib rizieq shihab

i finally believe that munarman is one of influence person in indonesia..

ahmadiyah, in my view..

i’ll never forget this experience..

that was april 4th..in that sunny friday, i had to go to masjid al mubarak, jagakarsa, south jakarta. republika sent me there to follow ’sholat jumat’ in that masjid. the problem is, that masjid is owned by ahmadiyah, a controversial islam secte

even a little bit afraid, i kept going to that place..

the masjid was so quiet, even the building was so big. it’s unique too. the different with most masjid in indonesia, there is no dome in that building. if you already watching film “ayat ayat cinta”, the masjid was very similar with some egypt architecture descripted in that movie. like rectangle box, but so high

i encourage my self to get into that masjid. fortunately, nothing happened..a few second before, i had thought that i would recognized as an intruder.

i had a deep breath, it was my first investigative reporting…

i looked inside, then saw 20-25 people, consist of man and woman. compared by the size of the masjid, the amount of the people was so little. maybe just one quarter of the masjid which filled by people. i realized that i was noticed by them. but i didnt try to pay attention.

so i was sit and listening the sermon..

from that sermon, i conclude that ahmadiyah very similar with islamic doctrine. they only believe mirza ghulam ahmad as the last prophet, not muhammad..that’s what i heard from the preacher

had finished sholat jumat, suddenly an old man stepped up toward me.

“young man, where are you from?” he said

i was so surprised, then i replied: “i’m from jogja sir, i’m a student from universitas gadjah mada.” i had to lie. i didnt want he knew that i’m a journalist.

then he told me that he was from depok, west java. he was one of ahmadiyah’s masjid keeper in depok. then, in the end of our conversation, he offered me to join his masjid in south depok. i had to lie again:

“okey sir, i will go there some time.”

***

that was my story with ahmadiyah. in a side, they were wrong. their islamic doctrine is intolerable. their faith to mirza ghulam ahmad very dangerous to the true islam.

but they were citizens too. so, they must be protected by the government. and as human, they like us. people that need somebody else’s help.

story of the prison student

his name is andri. a 16 years old-kid who appears like other ordinary kids. innocence and cheerful. but the fact, since february 2007 til now, he is in the kid prison, tangerang. he went to jail because of drugs abuse.

that day, something made him as an ordinary kid. that day, 5th may 2008, like other 3rd class student, he did the national final exams.

his face looks so bright, i thought he was so happy…i knew it.

it happened because the jail gave them opportunity to continuing their study by let them follow the final test. if they pass the exam, as ordinary student, they will get the certificate from indonesian educational department

in the end of our conversation..

“i ‘m going to study english sir,” he said

i answered: “okey, good luck for tomorrow.”

then he left me alone in front of his class..

that time i just imagined, “how if i was in his place? would i do the same thing?” thousand of people must know what i saw that day. a spirit came from a prison student. something i never imagined happened in my life..

andri just one kid who stay there. there is over 200 kids who stay there because of drugs-narcotics, sex-abuse, and assassination. they are kids that need helps. so the prison-guard become their teacher. that’s more effective then to be a strict guard.

when i visit sepatan..

today, i went to sepatan village.

sepatan is one of poor village in tangerang. majority, the people work as labour, merchant, and farmer. it’s placed far from town. with motorcycle, i spent approximately one hour to find the village

i saw a lot of sloppiness there.

first thing, something that i saw when i cross jalan raya mauk. i saw people washing the clothes in the river. whereas, the river is very dirt and full of rubbish. It’s not at all, the children like to bath there. they dont care even the river looks very brown.

i write that to be an article, the title is “the dirt of cisadane”. cisadane is the name of that river.

then, i went to sepatan police station.

there, i acquaintance with a police. his name is mr budi. i’m so lucky, he told me an issues which i thought its good to be wrote.

he told me in a village, which called mekar jaya, there were some electricity tower which already broken. there were three tower, and the frame of the tower had been stolen by somebody. so, it endangered people surround it. the fear is if those tower suddenly fall.

he already complained to electricity company, but they never respond it. whereas, people already feared.

so he ask me to write that issues to be an article. but his term, he didnt want his name to be appeared in the newspaper.

so, what can i say? i’ve got the news, eh??

they need our help..

today, i went to west mauk. it’s a village in north-tangerang, the village is near the sea and near the ‘krakatau’ mountain. i went there to find a school named ’setia bakti’. an elementary school with 169 students.

when i arrived there, i was so surprised..

the condition of the school is very poor. first thing that made me catchy is the frontyard. some duck was swimming in that yard. It’s really more like a pool than a yard.

can you imagine? there was no field to play football, there was no space to play hide and seek..instead, i saw a frontyard which drown by water. and the ducks -some creature which not supposed to be there

and then… the roof of that building already broken. we would see a big hole if we look up. some class cannot be used anymore. Few students must studied outside the class.

mr nahrawi, a senior religion teacher, told me the school had been repaired many times, but few months later, it always broken. it happened many times. He admitted being frustrated. sometimes he just want to left the school. but then, he told me, for the children he will sacrifice everything. he will teach his students as long as possible

he only hoped the government gave them attention.

could be seen, they need our help..

all i can do is report the story, how about you guys??

c66

c66 is my nickname in republika.

If sometimes you find that word in the end of paragraph, so that’s must be my news and my article, absolutely. ‘

there are eight ‘c’: c61 (teguh firmansyah), c62 (rosyid nurul hakim), c63 (desy susilawati), c64 (ahmad mulyadi), c65 (dyah ratna meta), c66 (me/ fernan rahadi), c67 (yogi respati), n c68 (rudi agung prabowo).

we are 5 guy n 3 girl who still in training in this company. we have to survive at least a year to become true member here. to achieve that short-term destination, is not an easy way. so many challenges that we have to face. ganbatte!!!!

ps: honestly there are two more ‘c’: c52 (ratna puspita) (now ‘nap’) and c54 (mohammad iksan shieddiqie), but they join in before us (ratna join in may 2007, iksan join in october 2007), and their journalist skill also their experience (must be admitted) above eight of us..

introducing..

hai..my name’s fernan rahadi, i’m a journalist. i’m working in republika, one of the best newspaper in indonesia.

i’m working there since Januari 2008. so nice to be a journalist. this is a job that i wanted since i graduated from college. eventhough i’m still new , but some person and friendly atmosphere make me comfortable. at least, it’s a good start, isn’t it?

this place already gave me some experience…

in this blog i will tell my story when i’m working in republika, but i will tell you about other things too, like hobbies, friends, and my personal life. so, would you like to join me??