Archive for September 12th, 2006
British colony of Malaya where the father, probably for economic reasons,
allowed his daughter to be adopted informally by a Chinese family in Singapore.
Liem Tioe and his young son, Liem Seeng Tee, then boarded a second, less
hospitable boat travelling east to the port city of Surabaya in East Java.
Like so many Chinese immigrants to Indonesia, Liem Tioe fell victim to either
malaria or cholera within six months of his arrival in East Java. Aware of his
imminent death, one of Liem Tioe’s final acts was to give his son up for adoption
to a Chinese family living in Bojonegoro, East Java.
This modest family raised the young boy as best as they could despite the harsh
colonial conditions of the time. Although no formal schooling was available, Seeng
Tee’s adopted father, who worked in some form of trade, was able to provide him
with his first formative exposure to the Chinese mercantile system. This knowledge
would serve him well in the future. During this time with his adoptive family, Seeng
Tee also learned to speak both Mandarin and the Hokkien dialect.
At the age of 11, Seeng Tee began working on the railroad. Effectively homeless,
he started out hawking food carried in a sarong to travellers in the lower class
compartments journeying between Jakarta and Surabaya. Eventually he progressed
to waiting on tables in the first class lounges occupied by the then Dutch colonial
patrons. In later years, his family would listen spellbound as he recounted his
“adventures” of those early years, jumping onto moving rail cars in the middle of the
night with a sarong full of biscuits in one hand and all his possessions strapped to his
back in a canvas bedroll.
source: www.houseofsampoerna.com
September 12th, 2006
Oleh: M. Mas’ud Adnan
TIGA orang asal Madura ditangkap polisi Malaysia. Mereka dianggap bersalah karena menangkap ikan di perairan Negeri Jiran tersebut. Para nelayan itu kemudian disel.
Ketika KH Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur) berkunjung ke Malaysia, dia nyambangi mereka di tahanan. Maka, terjadilah dialog.
“Gimana, sampean kok sampai melanggar peraturan. Kan nggak boleh menangkap ikan milik pemerintah Malaysia. Itu kan sama dengan mencuri,” kata Gus Dur yang mantan ketua umum PB NU tiga periode itu.
Lalu apa jawab si Madura?
“Lho, Gus, saya tak mencuri ikan milik pemerintah Malaysia. Ikan yang saya tangkap itu saya kejar dari perairan Madura,” katanya.
Anekdot itu diungkapkan Dirjen Pembinaan dan Pengembangan Masyarakat Kawasan Transmigrasi Depnakertrans Djoko Sidik Pramono di depan ribuan orang di Pesantren Nurussalam asuhan Prof Dr KH KRMHT Noer Nasroh Hadiningrat Gomang, Laju Lor Singgahan, Tuban, belum lama ini.
Bisa jadi anekdot tersebut diadaptasi dari konflik nelayan Sumenep dan Pamekasan, Madura, yang kasusnya pernah dilimpahkan ke pengadilan.
Namun, dari mana pun sumbernya, anekdot itu tampak lugu, konyol, lugas, tapi cerdas. Memang itulah ciri khas kebanyakan anekdot Madura.
Yang menarik, belakangan ini anekdot-anekdot asal Madura tersebut makin populer di kota-kota besar, termasuk Surabaya. Perusahaan-perusahaan besar seperti bank dan teknologi informasi kini banyak yang memanfaatkan bahasa dan anekdot Madura sebagai materi iklan.
Para tokoh politik, budayawan, dan ulama juga sering mengutip anekdot-anekdot dan bahasa Madura, tentu dengan logat dan intonasi khas Madura yang medok.
Budayawan sampai Presiden
Fenomena bahasa dan anekdot Madura makin populer tidak hanya di kota besar seperti Surabaya, tapi merambah secara nasional. Budayawan seperti Emha Ainun Nadjib atau tokoh sekelas mantan presiden B.J. Habibie dan Gus Dur kadang mengutip anekdot dan bahasa Madura. Belum lagi para menteri dan pejabat tinggi yang sering melontarkan joke-joke kultural Madura seperti saya kutip pada awal tulisan ini.
Yang paling banyak tentu para pelawak, baik tingkat nasional maupun regional. Mereka memanfaatkan bahasa dan anekdot Madura sebagai komoditas lawakan, meski terkesan dipaksakan. Malah, banyak pelawak yang kemudian ber-trademark Madura, seperti Kadir dan Marlena. Mereka populer karena berkah (untuk tak menyebut mengeksploitasi) bahasa dan anekdot Madura. Padahal, mereka bukan asli orang Madura.
Fenomena bahasa dan anekdot Madura yang makin populer itu tentu positif. Sebab, tak semua bahasa daerah bisa ngetop secara nasional seperti bahasa Madura. Tapi, kadang kesan konyolnya yang lebih ditonjolkan. Padahal, di balik kekonyolan itu, tersimpan kecerdasan logika, terutama secara kultural.
Seperti kita pahami, sesuai watak kulturalnya, orang Madura tak gampang menyerah, meski sudah terpojok dan kalah. Kasus Gus Dur dan nelayan di atas adalah contoh nyata. Meski bersalah, mereka masih berkilah.
Iklan Merusak Pakem
Selain kekonyolan yang sering ditonjolkan, banyak bahasa Madura yang tak sesuai dengan kaidah dan realitas bahasa Madura. Itu banyak kita temui terutama pada materi iklan dan bahan lawakan. Salah satu contohnya iklan sebuah bank di radio. Dalam iklan tersebut, seorang wanita bilang, “Yang ti - pasti…..” Padahal, dalam bahasa Madura, tak ada pengulangan satu kata tanpa penguatan makna. Yang lazim justru pengulangan tak sempurna terhadap kata ulang. Misalnya, gado-gado dalam bahasa Madura jadi do-gado, kanak-kanak jadi nak-kanak dan seterusnya. Jadi, terjadi proses reduksi terhadap kata ulang.
Para pelawak dan aktor iklan berbahasa Madura juga sering melafalkan istilah-istilah Madura secara tak pas. Misalnya, tak iyah dilafalkan tak iya (tanpa h). Konsekuensinya, terdengar hambar, selain cenderung merusak pakem bahasa Madura.
Yang juga perlu dipahami, tak semua kata diakhiri tak iyah. Sebab, istilah tak iyah merupakan penguatan dalam aksentuasi yang secara tak langsung meminta persetujuan lawan bicara. Tapi, dalam dialog materi iklan atau lawakan, hampir setiap akhir pembicaraan ditambahi tak iyah. Akibatnya, baik secara logika maupun leksikal jadi rancu.
Demikianlah, baik para pelawak maupun perancang materi iklan sering memanfaatkan bahasa Madura secara tak benar. Orientasi mereka -baik iklan maupun lawak- bersifat ekonomi, bukan kultural. Akibatnya, bahasa dan anekdot Madura berkembang secara tak wajar.
Nah, bertolak dari realitas di atas, tampaknya para budayawan dan tokoh Madura perlu punya apresiasi lebih tinggi terhadap kultur dan bahasa Madura. Artinya, perlu kemampuan public relations simpatik untuk menyosialisasikan bahasa dan kultur Madura secara benar dan cerdas. Dengan demikian, kultur Madura yang mengandung nilai-nilai luhur -terutama dalam konteks kepemimpinan, hubungan sosial, dan kebangsaan-teraktualisasi secara proporsional. Misal, falsafah Madura yang menekankan pentingnya menghormati orang tua, guru, dan pemimpin. Nilai-nilai luhur itu perlu diinternalisasi dan disosialisasikan secara maksimal agar substansi kultural Madura bisa dipahami secara benar oleh masyarakat luas. Itu penting. Sebab, jika kecenderungan negatif yang justru berkembang -pemanfaatan bahasa Madura secara tak benar- tak mustahil orang Madura akan terus-menerus jadi bahan tertawaan konyol. Wallahu a’lam bisshawab. (mmasudadnan@yahoo.com)
M. Mas’ud Adnan
Wakil Ketua DPW PKB Jawa Timur dan penulis buku Anehdot-Anehdot Gus Dur
sumber : www.jawapos.com
September 12th, 2006
Indonesia is a Muslim country, but the old animist traditions, worshipping mountains, giving offerings to ward of evil spirits, etc. is still practiced. Over the weekend in East Java, paranormals came from all over Indonesia to Sidoarjo, site of the toxic mudflow. Local people have become increasingly angry after mud threatened their housing and livelihoods, blaming the government and the mining company, whose drilling started the mudflow.
Here’s more from the Jakarta Post.
Paranormals called in to end mudflow Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post, Sidoarjo
After midnight, a site near the center of Sidoarjo’s mudflows remains busy — not with workers trying to stop the constant gray streams, but with mystics attempting to use their supernatural powers to end the disaster for a Rp 100 million (US$10,869) prize.
“Stop filming please, I can’t concentrate on calling the spirit at the source of the mudflow,” Maisaroh, a psychic from the East Java town of Ngawi, said in Javanese to a photographer from a foreign news service and to The Jakarta Post on Saturday.
The photographer looked confused and apologized. Maisaroh started to move away from his camera.
“I could have called the spirit around (Lapindo Brantas Inc.’s) Banjar Panji-1 well, but the spirit left upon learning you would take a picture,” she said. “I’ll try calling it again so I can communicate with it.”
Nearby, another psychic, Hobir, 50, was crouched over busily chanting, then threw sand and stone into ponds built to contain the mudflow.
“The sand and stone were taken … with God’s guidance from the cemetery of Sunan Ampel in Surabaya and of Sunan Giri in Gresik,” he told the Post, referring to two of the nine legendary clerics who spread Islam in Java.
Hobir, who works days on a tobacco farm, said he hoped he had adequate powers to stop the mess from spreading.
“I’ve had a blessing from Gus Dur (former president Abdurrahman Wahid)… If I win, I and my family will live in a house,” he said.
Maisaroh and Hobir are two of 50 psychics taking part in the contest, organized by the Kedung Bendo village head, a wealthy businessman named Hasan.
The competition has attracted psychics from many cities in East Java and from further afield, including Jakarta and Medan. All are trying their luck to stop the hot mud, which has been gushing out of Lapindo’s exploration well since May 29.
The organizer has not collected any registration fees for the contestants nor provided them with accommodation; they only get free water, and are required to bring their own equipment.
“Some of the psychics are scary-looking, but there are also those who are gentle and polite. But none of them have stopped the mud,” said Titus, the contest’s coordinator.
He said the competition had received such a large response that the committee had to limit the number of participants and separate them into several groups. The committee has not set a deadline for contestants to end the flows.
In a screening process, each psychic had to pass a test: turn off a water faucet left on by the organizer with only their supernatural powers.
“With the test, many candidates had to go back home. How can they stop a mudflow if they can’t even shut off a faucet,” Titus said.
The contest is one of the more unusual attempts to end the disaster, which has left more than 9,000 people homeless and more than 1,800 people out of work.
“Many people may not accept that we have supernatural powers,” said Dony Harahap, a psychic from Jakarta.
“But (from my work) it is clear that the mudflow can only be stopped if the government and Lapindo end their sinful acts, which are affecting the people.”
September 12th, 2006