Belajar dari Korea: Tentang Produk Lokal

Only God knows kenapa saya begitu eksisnya duduk paling depan :)))

 
“Korean people don’t use local product just because we want to show that we are patriotic. We use it because we know it’s a good product.”

Kalimat ini sempat bikin kami, mahasiswa yang sedang mengikuti Kuliah Tamu Hubungan Bilateral Indonesia-Korea Selatan, tertawa. Well, kalau selama ini kebanyakan dari kita berpikir bahwa orang Korea nasionalis banget, loyal banget, dan apalah banget-banget yang lainnya, terutama sama produk lokal; ternyata ga gitu juga ya. Hehehe.

Beberapa dari kenalan Korea saya memang lebih memilih produk lokal seperti Samsung atau LG, dan terbukti bahwa produk-produk tersebut memberikan value yang tinggi dengan harga beli yang lebih rendah daripada produk impor seperti Apple. Oleh karena value-nya yang cukup tinggi, maka tidak perlu mengagungkan penggunaan produk impor hanya karena prestise. Toh produk Samsung atau LG sudah ada yang cukup, atau bahkan lebih canggih.

Perkataan yang dilontarkan Duta Besar Korea untuk Indonesia, Cho Taiyoung, diatas, membuat saya merenung berhari-hari. Betapa tidak, kita masih amat sangat terjajah dengan segala produk dari luar negeri, dan kebanggaan kita menggunakannya. Dari sejak bangun pagi hingga tidur lagi, kita terlalu dibiasakan dengan produk impor, yang kadang meski pabriknya di Indonesia, tapi sebagian besar sahamnya dimiliki asing. Air mineral, handphone, mobil, produk fashion, perawatan tubuh, bahkan mungkin makanan kita pun produk asing.

Miris? Iya. Banget. Padahal negara kita adalah negara yang teramat kaya, dengan segala bentuk sumber daya alamnya. Belum lagi jumlah penduduk kita, salah satu yang terbesar di dunia, dan banyak yang berpendidikan tinggi juga..

Kenyataan ini memang bukan berarti kita tidak punya produk pengganti yang berasal dari dalam negeri, tapi mungkin produk tersebut belum memiliki kualitas setinggi produk dari luar negeri; sehingga ya itu tadi.. there is no pride of using bad product, isn’t it?

Pertanyaannya kemudian, bagaimana mungkin produk lokal bisa mengembangkan inovasi ketika mereka tidak memiliki cukup dana? Maka lingkaran antara bantuan pemerintah dan dukungan masyarakat sangat dibutuhkan. Korea dan Indonesia tuh, merdeka di tahun yang relatif sama. Indonesia pernah dijajah Jepang, dan Korea pun merasakan kerusakan yang relatif sama akibat jajahan Jepang. So how could they grow bigger and move faster than us in regards to the innovation of local product?

Ada yang punya jawabannya? ;)

Untuk Indonesia,
Prima

Prima for Global Forum on Youth, Peace and Security

Once upon a time, there was a girl who has big dreams. Raised by a mother who idolized Kofi Annan, her mother whispered to her that one day she will work for the United Nations.

Time goes by, and when she is 14 years old, she had a chance to join the World Scout Jamboree in Thailand. It was her first encounter with intercultural situation, and she was really excited. When she finally arrives, unfortunately, as a hijabi, she had to accept the reality that some scouts from Western countries rejected her from the group. With teary eyes, she tried convincing people that even though she is a muslim, she is not a terrorist. But she keeps moving forward, doing her assignments with total effort, until some days before the closing, she finally made friends with some British and Australian scouts.

That girl was me, and starting from that day, I know that it will be a serious challenge to create the world peace. If people keep seeing others with assumptions and stereotypes, how could they open themselves and communicate? It makes me grow and befriend with people from diverse backgrounds. I don't limit my friends: Islam, Christian, Chinese descent (which numbers are high in my hometown), as well as cross-ethnic groups (Indonesia consists of more than 300 ethnic groups).

While some people thinks that Islam and extremism are somehow cliché, I still think that young muslim should work hard on it. Showing that we are good team-member in the society, proving that Islam is a beautiful way of life, and bringing positive impact for our surrounding. It's not a burden, it's a need of ourselves.

I have working on this homework since I was in high school. Not only as a muslim, but as an Indonesian who try to build the security. When I was in the first grade of high school, I was confused as my seniors were proud to join the student fight. They think it's a manly thing, which I thought was incredibly stupid. Not only they fight other schools, but they also spread the fear to other students. There were some times we had to go home earlier, avoiding the student fight.

Lately I found out that the same thing happens to the football fans club in Indonesia. An Australian footballer who worked in Indonesia once said that football is considered as more important than the religion. The fans tend to fight other fans club. In the two cities that I have ever lived in, I experienced the times when the citizens can't go anywhere because the fans club doing the parade. If the football team wins, they express their happiness by destructing private properties. If the football team loses, they got mad and smashed public properties. It was so terrible.

In 2011, I write a research about how foreign football players adapt with Indonesian culture. At that time, I discussed with some fans club and encouraged them to find more 'elegant' ways to support the team. I used that opportunity to supervise a fans club consists of teenagers as it seems that they were easy to be influenced. I saw how they were persuaded to fight other fans clubs. Under my supervision – which were supported by their parents too – they strongly hold their principles, to ignore other' bad persuasion and instead of that, finding creative ways to support the football players.

Going back and forth looking for a way to spread the positive thoughts introduced me with blogging. Based on a research in 2012, 97,5% teenagers in some big cities in Indonesia have at least one social media account. It's definitely a good medium to motivate Indonesian youth to become the agent of change. When I was invited to be a speaker about 'Blogging for Social Responsibility', I emphasized that some of us have been so lucky to experience higher education, and also, are rich enough to buy gadget with good internet connection. Even if we can do nothing, it's time for us to give back to the society, by sharing hopes and positive ideas through social media. As we can see, most of the conversation on social media are rubbish, and it's a sad fact knowing that it actually can be substituted by wisdom, knowledge, and news.

My conclusion is – something that I have been experiencing myself, and as stated in the speech of the Crown Prince of Jordan on the meeting of UN' Security Council, April 2015 – youth has a lot of ambition, as well as the endless energy. If it is not used for positive acts such as making achievements at school or volunteering in the society; it will be used for spreading the fear, like student fight that I have mentioned above.

That's why, I am happy that I joined World Muslimah Award 2014, held by World Muslimah Foundation. I was proud to be a part of World Muslimah Foundation' effort in building cultural understanding, which was by gathering young women from diverse countries and background to share the experiences: our passion, our business, our achievements. We also have seen how the Foundation making real action in women empowerment, such as conducting skill training for housewives in a slum village in Jakarta, Indonesia. I had a chance to hear the story from one of the women: a single mother whose her high-school graduated son is hoping to go to college, and her daughter is studying in a boarding school. Since her husband died some years ago, she earned money by collecting used bottles and selling it to the collectors. She said that she had experiences in working for factory or shop, but as a woman she had to accept that even though her skill is good enough, she received lower salary than her male working partner. She also couldn't bear with sexual harassment and women objectification, such as wearing tight and sexy uniform. Lucky her, she didn't trapped into prostitution – which she knows that some of her friends do.

Based on the stories I hear at the award, I have a plan to establish my own foundation before I turn 35 years old. I would like to help the kids from broken home family – just like me – providing them advocacy and life skills. I can't be more grateful that even though my parents were divorced, they fully support me so that I can be what I am today. But I know that most of the children are not that lucky. They are confused, they don't have shoulders to cry on, they don't know what to do with their life. If the situation continuing, they can't optimize their role in the society.

It was one of the reason for me to go back to school as a Graduate Student majoring in Communication Science. I want to learn more about social marketing, especially how to communicate a social campaign. Besides studying, I am joining the training for peer counselor who will be officially volunteering in the next semester.

So, I may have been a rookie for the peace-building project, and I also aware that I might not have focused on one specific thing, just because I am interested in many issues. But as a young woman myself, I am sure that woman is the most important key to the world peace. A woman will become a mother, a role model for her children in the future – so it has to be started from a well-educated and caring girl. I hope I will have the chance to share my experiences along the way to build peace situation in my community in the Global Forum on Youth, Peace, and Security. I also would love to learn from other experienced people, especially to improve my plan, and help contributing to the World Muslimah Foundation' mission.

See you at the Global Forum on Youth, Peace, and Security!

Lots of love,

Prima

Bicara Tentang Kematian

Dan Allah sekali-kali tidak akan menangguhkan (kematian) seseorang apabila telah datang waktu kematiannya. Dan Allah Maha Mengenal apa yang kamu kerjakan. QS. Al-Munafiqun (63), Ayat 11

Konon, malaikat kematian mengintai kita 70 kali sehari (sudah berusaha nyari hadits-nya, tapi kok kurang meyakinkan ya..). Selain itu, kata teman saya, dia pernah dengar bahwa nyawa kita akan dicabut ketika kita melakukan kegiatan yang paling sering kita lakukan. Kebetulan dia berkomentar seperti ini sesudah kami menonton Furious 7 (baca review saya disini). Asumsinya, Paul Walker ‘dimatikan’ oleh Allah, saat sedang berada di mobil – sesuatu yang dekat dengannya saat masih hidup.

Whatever they say about death, saya percaya mempersiapkan kematian adalah salah satu hal yang sangat penting, bahkan mungkin lebih penting daripada kehidupan itu sendiri. Ustadz Fatih Karim, guru Ustadz Felix Siauw, pernah bercerita kalau beliau menyimpan kain kafan sejumlah anggota keluarganya, diletakkan di lemari, di bagian yang terlihat setiap kali ia membuka lemari. To remind him that one day he will wear that ‘clothes’.

Di rumah tante yang saat ini saya tinggali, alhamdulillah, kematian selalu membayangi. Om saya, meninggal sekitar 1,5 tahun yang lalu. Ia tidak dalam keadaan sakit, meski memang pernah stroke ringan, tapi kontrol dokter terakhir menyatakan bahwa ia cukup sehat. Ia meninggal di sela-sela waktunya bekerja, di rumah, dalam situasi yang cukup ‘tiba-tiba’ dan tidak terduga.

When Allah said it’s the time, we can’t hold back.

Saya sering membayangkan, seperti apa nanti kematian saya. Apakah saya akan meninggal dalam damai, bersama keluarga yang mendampingi di sekeliling saya? Apakah saya akan meninggal dalam kesendirian, mungkin saat itu keluarga saya sedang melakukan aktivitas mereka masing-masing, dan tidak tahu-menahu bahwa saya sedang meregang nyawa? Atau apakah saya akan meninggal dengan cepat, mungkin pada kecelakaan pesawat atau diambil nyawanya oleh seseorang? 

Saya tidak tahu, saya tidak bisa menerka.

Yang saya tahu, saya tentu berharap bahwa kematian saya tidak akan merepotkan orang-orang yang saya tinggalkan. Yang saya tahu, saya berusaha agar ketika saya meninggal, mereka mendoakan saya dengan tulus, mengikhlaskan hutang-hutang saya baik material maupun hutang budi, dan memaafkan kesalahan saya. Yang saya tahu, saya berjuang agar ketika saya telah tiada, mereka hanya mengenang yang baik-baik saja dari saya.

Yang saya tahu, bahwa ketika seorang manusia meninggal terputuslah semua urusan, kecuali tiga: amal jariyah, ilmu yang bermanfaat, dan doa anak soleh. Sementara saya tidak tahu apakah saya akan sempat memiliki yang ketiga, dan tentu saya masih sangat pas-pasan untuk yang pertama; semoga, semoga Allah izinkan saya mengoptimalkan yang kedua.

Jika sister berpikir post ini sangat gloomy, sebaliknya, saya menulis sambil tersenyum. Saya ingin diri saya merasa optimis bahwa saya akan meninggal dalam keadaan yang dekat dengan keridhoan Allah. Saat sedang membaca Al-Qur’an, saat sedang menyiapkan blog post untuk #1Hari1Ayat, saat sedang perjalanan ke majelis ilmu. Doa bersama yuk, semoga aktivitas-aktivitas ini bisa lebih kita rutinkan lagi, karena ingat, kematian tidak menunggu tua.

Salam,
Prima