Eliminating the Limits

Hey everyone! I am so sorry that I haven’t blogged for a while. There are too many things to do, and well you know, I can never keep up with my own activities. But, I promise that I will blog, very soon Here are some information I got, I think you guys might be very interested.

Yayasan Kesejahteraan Anak Indonesia bekerjasama dengan Kementerian Negara Pemberdayaan Perempuan dan Perlindungan Anak dan UNICEF menyelenggaran Lomba Menulis Nasional untuk memperebutkan “Penghargaan KNPPPA, UNICEF dan YKAI untuk Penulis Muda Indonesia 2010”. Lomba menulis nasional 2010 bertemakan “Realita Budaya di Mata Anak”.

Konsep budaya mengandung pengertian sebagai suatu sistem dan nilai-nilai yang berlaku di tengah-tengah masyarakat. Konsep ini secara luas mencakup sistem nilai dan keyakinan suatu komunitas yang mewarnai perilaku dan kegiatan warganya, cara atau kebiasaan kerja yang telah membudaya atau tertanam dalam satu komunitas, serta suatu pola tingkah laku masyarakat dalam komunitas (seperti pemikiran, tindakan, pembicaraan, ritual/upacara dan benda-benda). Berbagai kondisi dan masalah ada di masyarakat, seperti : korupsi, kemiskinan, kekerasan, kenakalan remaja, anak gizi buruk, kasus Reog Ponorogo dan Tari Pendet, dst. Bagaimanakah kaitannya dengan budaya kita? Apa pendapatmu mengenai esensi sebuah budaya? Apakah ada bentuk perlindungan anak atau kekerasan dalam suatu budaya? Permasalahan budaya apa saja yang dihadapi bangsa kita?

Kamu bisa mengeksplorasi dan mengembangkan hal-hal di atas dalam bentuk tulisan.

Persyaratan:

• Peserta berusia 12-18 tahun (SMP/SMU/sederajat).
• Bentuk artikel, asli, panjang tulisan 4-7 halaman kertas A 4, huruf Arial 12pt dan spasi 1.5.
• Sertakan data diri: nama, keterangan sekolah, kelas dan usia (disertai fotocopi bukti diri : KTP/ Kartu Pelajar). Tuliskan alamat jelas dan nomor telepon yang bisa dihubungi. Cantumkan juga dari mana anda memperoleh informasi lomba.
• Tulisan dikirim ke : Yayasan Kesejahteraan Anak Indonesia (YKAI) Jalan Tebet Barat Dalam V/26, Jakarta Selatan – 12810. Paling lambat 7 Juni 2010 (stempel pos).
• Pengumuman pemenang dapat dilihat di http://www.ykai.net pada minggu pertama bulan Juli 2010.
• Selain penyerahan Penghargaan Penulis Muda Indonesia 2010 bagi kategori SMP dan SMU, 20 naskah terbaik akan dibukukan, mendapatkan hadian menarik, dan mengikuti Creative Writing Workshop.
• Untuk informasi selengkapnya bisa menghubungi:
  Nomor Telepon: 021-98292335; 021-98282905; 021- 93810517, 0878-77379859 (Aya); 0812-9464364 (Yuyun); 0818-660654, 021-99832967 (Susan).
  Fax: 021-8312694.
  Website: http://www.ykai.net
  Email: lombamenulis_ykai@yahoo.com, menulisnasional_ykai@yahoo.co.id

Join this competition, guys! It will open a door to a lot of opportunities

Yes, it’s been a long time.

@VanyaViranda once asked me on Twitter about internships and how to become an intern in a magazine. I hope that I can share my experience with everyone.

Becoming an intern may means a lot of things, it depends on what you do, and how your company ask you to do it. I have tried a number of different kind of internships. From being a volunteer, flexible part-timer, and a full-time staff.

For your consideration, I’ve been a freelance writer for several magazines, including Gogirl!, Hai, and kaWanku. I also contributed for 21-Degrees for several months and sometimes write for JakartaConcerts.com. I contributed in one of Provoke!’s Student Editions and I have authored two books. All of them gave insightful, different experiences for me.

The real work? I worked for the marketing division of Millions Pictures for 6 months. They are the ones who made Queen Bee movie. I also worked as an intern for (almost) one month in Business Relations Division, British Council Indonesia.

If you want to be a freelance writer, it is actually very easy. You only need to write your own piece about anything you like, the things you are passionate about – like music or films or fictional stories, and then send it to a magazine that you think would publish your work. Before we send our work, we have to learn the characteristic of our target magazine. For example, if you want to write about life lessons in a girl’s point of view, you can not send it directly to a magazine. You have to learn the characteristic of each magazine. In my opinion, Gogirl! is more into trends and fashion, CosmoGIRL! is more into self-esteem campaigns, and kaWanku is more ‘think globally, act locally’ campaigns. Now, see the difference? The next thing you ought to do, is only to look around the magazine, find the office’s address (or e-mail!), and send your work. That easy. Wait until you get a call about your work. If not, go write another piece, try to write things that are more appropriate to be placed in that magazine.

Being a contributor is another thing. I got the chance to write for 21-Degrees and JakartaConcerts.com because I tried to maintain my relationship with them. I first met 21-Degrees’ Chief Editor when he went to my school and wanted to featured my school’s achievements. I shook hands with him and tried to get the opportunity to write in his magazine, and I succeeded. You guys should do the same. If one day you meet Anita Moran or Widi Mulia, ask them, “How can I write in your magazine? Because I want to, and I know I can.” It might be successful. If not, they won’t remember your name anyway, don’t be embarrassed. About JakartaConcerts.com, I knew Ryan Novianto & Dimas Wisnuwardono from my friend, Suryo. We chatted for quite some time and I decided to help them by writing for JakartaConcerts.com. I don’t get paid, even till now. But I do it with my heart, to help my friends, not for money. It’s all worth it. God will pay you back, no worries.

In Million Pictures, I was offered the job because they knew that I blog! So, I think you guys should start blogging seriously. Some people says that it’s a waste of time but I don’t think so. In British Council, I applied for the internship slot there. I chose two fields: Business Relations and Creativity. But, the BR team ’stole’ me from Creativity. Anyone can apply for the internship position by logging into their website.

I don’t know what else to write but I am going to write a few things… I think you should do if you want to be an intern, especially in media our journalistic field:

1. Research! That’s the first thing I’d like to advise. Write everything you need to know, and ask the things that you haven’t known yet. I have met tons of journalist who ask ‘What do you do?’ and ‘What is your cause?’ and ‘Where do you go to school?’. Didn’t they do any kind of research before? Come on, this world has Google.
2. You have to be able to write things from different point of views. Not from your point of view, but from your company’s point of view. This is very important. You don’t want people to read your piece as if it’s your diary, right?
3. Make sure that you write the ‘right’ thing. Ask your resources if needed. It pisses me off when anyone writes incorrect details about me, especially when they have interviewed me.
4. Don’t think about money. Interns who are paid Rp100.000,-/day… are in heaven already. There are people who pay us Rp25.000,- or Rp50.000,- a day, it depends on what you do, and of course, how you do it. Some of them doesn’t even give anything to us, and be happy with it. The most valuable thing you get from becoming an intern is the experience.
5. Take the bus. Bring your own lunch. Don’t even think about taking a cab or buying your lunch in the canteen. Waste of money. Save it for something, like, maybe, BlackBerry or MacBook
6. Be friendly to anyone. One of the main aim of becoming an intern is to get the connections, expand your network. Talk to these people you are working with, with enough respect and enough friendliness. They are eager to help interns like you though they seem ’scary’ at first. Talk about what you do (and say it excitingly and interestingly), and give them a clue that you need their help. That’s what I did in British Council. I asked these people’s help for IYC!
7. Critical thinking is needed! Let them know what you think about what they do, give feedback, they really appreciate it. It’s time for our voice to be heard, right?
8. Never give up. I have sent more than 100 applications in my life, to different institutions: to apply for internships, competitions, ask for sponsorships, ask for support. Some of them got back to me, the rest didn’t, and no hurt feelings. They are busy, just like us.
9. Stop thinking that you can’t do something. YOU CAN. If you try. I hate listening to people say that “I cannot do this and that”. All you have to do is sit in front of your laptop and type something in Google. That’s how I got some things. That’s how I knew that British Council calls for interns. That’s how I found out that there’s is such thing like JakartaConcerts.com. If you only wait for people to tell you to do things, you won’t achieve something big.

Hmmm… Again, I don’t know what else, but let me know if you want to ask anything, I’d be glad to help I hope what I’ve written will give insightful knowledge for you, especially about internships in journalism.

Yes, the new theme lasted for a very short amount of time. I’m not a fan of pink actually, but I thought it might bring a new ambiance to my blog. Apparently, there are a lot of people who doesn’t like it and I think a dark theme (with my favourite colour, blue!) is waaay better for now. Did you know that a dark colour can save the energy?

A search engine tool, Blackle, has saved 1,2 Megawatt hours! Blackle is a black version of Google. It was created by Heap Media and is powered by Google Custom Search. According to this, “A given monitor requires more power to display a white (or light) screen than a black (or dark) screen.“ That’s why I set my homepage to Blackle, and changed my theme back to black. Small steps do matter, don’t they?

Anyway, Year 12 students are having a couple of exams to go. Hope we all would do well. I don’t really care about exams right now. Days have been very difficult to me. Everything from different directions are moving towards me. Pushing me. Not that I can’t accept it, but I just need a break. People acts as if they understand me, but they just don’t. Because things like these don’t happen in everyone’s life.

Lucky me that God is testing my strength, and I hope that what He does will make me strong gradually. Now you know that my life is not perfect. God is just. Believe me, people whom you think is perfect or ‘only’ very lucky… they are not. So, don’t be envious. Just be happy with your life, enjoy it. Don’t ever wish you were someone else.

And to recharge my energy, if I could do anything I want to do, I would say I need:

1. A sleepover with my girlfriends.

2. A night of Thirteen* with neighbours

Last but not least,

3. A great dinner with cousins

What do you do to recharge your energy? :))

PS: A little note for you, who addresses yourself as a me.

“Anger is just a cowardly extension of sadness. It’s a lot easier to be angry at someone than it is to tell them you’re hurt.”- Tom Gates

*) Thirteen in Indonesian means CAPSA! :B

Last month, on February 18, I attended Amnesty International Indonesian Influencer Webinar. It was the first time for me to attend such thing, so I was nervous and excited at the same time. I didn’t understand at first, but it was a wonderful experience. There were 5 bloggers from Indonesia: Enda Nasution, Marisa Duma, M. Ilman Akbar, Anita Carmencita, and me. There were also some people from Online Communities division of Amnesty International: James Skinner, Ryan Visser, Jai Kotecha, Jennifer Bilec-Sullivan, Abigail O’hanlon and Mirinda Boon-Kuo.

On 2001, President Bush issues a military order on the “Detention, Treatment and Trial of Certain Non-Citizens, in the War Against Terrorism”, purporting to authorize the Pentagon to hold non US-citizens in indefinite custody without charge. Next, the first detainees are transferred to Guantanamo from Afghanistan and are held in wire mesh cages in an area known as “Camp X-Ray”. Starting on 2005, Amnesty International called for the closure of Guantanamo Bay, followed by other organizations and former presidents including Carter and Clinton. Amnesty International had also published the names of 39 people who are believed to have been held in secret CIA custody and whose current whereabouts remain unknown. So, on 2008, Amnesty International released the Counter Terror with Justice: A checklist for the next US President.

Most Indonesians supported Barack Obama. Some of them did because they believed “he can”, while the rest were just joining the euphoria because Obama lived in Indonesia when he was a kid. Amnesty International also thinks that Obama can do better things than what the former president did. Change is possible, including on certain fields like human rights.

You can read the checklist by clicking here. If you want me to shorten the .pdf file, the checklist from Amnesty includes: “Close Guantanamo and illegal detention, eradicate torture, end impunity.” Is it difficult to be achieved? Obama still has 56 days to do this. Amnesty (and I) hope you can also participate on this movement, well… if you support human rights and think that we should counter terror with justice instead of torture.  Please sign the petition, stating that, “You can counter terror with justice. We are counting on you.” Until today, 19716 people have signed the petition. I am signing it. Are you willing to do so? If it’s a nod, you can sign the petition here.

http://obama100days.amnesty.org/petition.html

Can you do it? Let me know what you think! If you sign, or even if you don’t, tell me… Just like what Pure Saturday said, “Time for a change…”

is a song from L’Alphalpha, a four-piece band full of my buddies. You can listen to it here. But, I’m not going to talk about music, though.

Bali, Juli 2008. I went snorkeling!

A few days before I traveled to the UK, I arranged a meeting with Tante Rini Sucahyo, from Conservation International Indonesia. I first met her in a meeting in USAID’s office. Fitrian Ardiansyah, WWF Indonesia’s program director of climate change, invited me to come along with him to join the meeting. I wasn’t aware that she’s actually my friend’s mum because she seemed so young! She’s the mother of the loveliest experimental photographer I ever befriended with, Cassandra Niki (nicknamed Casseybunn :D).

We talked much about marine conservation, well that’s her main concern in environmental issues. That’s what I am going to share with you through this entry.

Images are courtesy of © Jez O’hare. Check his amazing works here.

I mean, did you know that coral reefs are animals instead of an underwater plant? And, did you know that Indonesia has the biggest marine biodiversity in the world? I didn’t.

There are three things that support the underwater life:

1. Mangrove (hutan bakau)
2. Seagrass bed (padang lamun)
3. Coral reef (terumbu karang)

Mangrove and seagrass bed are often called “the nursery”. This is where baby fishes and turtles grow up until they can swim to the deeper part of the ocean. Most of Indonesian people only knew about mangrove and coral reef without knowing about seagrass bed, which is also very important. Without seagrass bed, baby fishes and turtles often gotten caught by predators before they can reach their home

Besides, turtles are also the main problem in Indonesia. It is still used as a part in religious rituals (especially in Bali island) and being consumed as food. It’s very ironic, because turtles are labeled using the term “endangered species” and so vulnerable. They need 5 years to grow up… well, if they are not eaten by the humans yet.

Conservation International has been doing a lot of things to conserve marine life in Indonesia. That includes workshop and education, mangrove reforestation (around Bali, Muara Karang and Flores), games for kids and clean up the sea with college students (especially IPB, they have diving clubs).

These are some facts to trigger your awareness:

• 1356 species of reef fishes are found in Bird’s Head Seascape
• 1223 species of reef fishes are found in Raja Ampat
• There are 15 species of reef fishes that are only found in Bird’s Head Seascape
• 600 species of coral reefs are found in Bird’s Head Seascape
• 75% of all species of coral reefs in the world are found in Bird’s Head Seascape. It is 10 times of the coral reefs species found around The Caribbean Islands!
• On the 4.500 species of reef fishes existing in the oceans worldwide, around 3.500 of them have been identified in Indonesia!

So, have you planned to do something? A snorkeling day, maybe? Or Google about seagrass bed? Well, you choose. Let me know what you think!

Read J. D. Salinger – The Catcher in The Rye
Listen Radiohead – 15 Steps
Watch Into The Wild

For the ones who have been keeping an eye on the life of Alanda in the past two, three years, either through the live version or through the media (blog, magazine, newspaper, etc), maybe have been also aware with something called The Cure For Tomorrow. About TCFT, you can read it on http://thecurefortomorrow.wordpress.com. There were a lot of people who asked how to participate, what are the activities? You can read them all in our site.

One year ago, TCFT went through an internal problem, and finally, I took a big decision, yet difficult. TCFT has been temporarily “non-activated”. Although there were a lot of registered members with us, approximately 100 people, the ones who are really doing something in the community were too few, about 15-20 people. Active, referring to their presence in our meetings and events, their routine donation payment, and more. The other 80? Maybe they were more like, just registered. So they could write The Cure For Tomorrow in their profile page and be proud of it. I’ve never thought about it as a problem, because for me, the most important thing was participation, no matter how little it is. The essence of TCFT’s presence is to respect any kind of contribution, and I will stick to it forever.

From the active 20 people, most of them currently sits on last year of high school and will face the final exams, so most of us always had excuses: after school lessons, try out, exams. There were also some of us who had moved to Bandung for school or college. Aisha, my partner-in-crime, had departed to Charleston, West Virginia, as a participant of YES (Youth Exchange and Study Programs), AFS. Read Aisha’s story, here.

TCFT was started on June 2006. It popped up in my head, and followed with a phone call  to Aishanatasha. Then, it spreaded to our friends. It all started with an idea, a dream, a hope. Two years later, we are these.

After TCFT was non-activated, we got thrilling-exciting offers. We were about to be interviewed by Majalah Saos (Yayasan Cinta Anak Bangsa), Planet Remaja (anTV), were about to have a meeting with Ms Titie Sadarini from The Coca-Cola Foundation, … I had to say no to all of those, because we didn’t have enough human resources. I could have attended all of those alone, but I don’t think it’s fair. The Cure For Tomorrow is not mine, it belongs to everyone who has given their contributions, and they have the right to experience the same things like I and Aisha did.

Establishing TCFT has opened a lot of opportunities for me, Aisha, and the others to move. TCFT wants to break the paradigm and stereotype that kids and teens cannot do anything, cannot bring a change. Without TCFT, we would have never been like this. I would never become Indonesia’s delegate for Global Changemakers Guildford Forum 2009, Aisha would never become Indonesia’s delegate in YES and AFS. Being a volunteer might will never make you reach. But, it opens a lot of doors, opportunities. We have met a lot of people, do a lot of new things, learn to socialize, and even try to see the world from a different point of view.

On December 5 2008, I have accomplished an “assignment” from British Council as Indonesian Global Changemaker to attend International Volunteer Day 2008 Celebration at Menteng Park, Central Jakarta. There were booths from Palang Merah Indonesia, Volunteering for International Development from Australia (VIDA), Global Xchange British Council, United Nations Volunteers, and more.

This post will not have any meaning without sharing. Just like what Everybody Loves Irene said, love is sharing.

1. UN Volunteers offered an alternative to do online volunteering for everybody from all around the world who cannot depart to other countries but want to  do something to help the world. By the time I posted this entry, there were 3000 online volunteers already. Anyone can be an online volunteer. You can do: project development and management, design, coordination and facilitation, IT development, research, writing, editing, translating, training, coaching and consulting. The organization you work for will give you a certificate by the end of your colunteering activities. Click www.onlinevolunteering.org for more.

2. British Council has the Global Xchange program, where 9 Indonesian teenagers by the age of 18 – 25 years old team up with 9 British teenagers with the same age. These 18 kids will be located in a town in the UK for 3 months and a town Indonesia for 3 months. Read Global Xchange 2008’s story on British Council’s site. The latest deadline for the application form will be on early September 2009, for the next in take term, March 2010. Click here to download form. For further information, please contact Ilsa Meidina, (021) 5155561 or try to meet her at British Council Indonesia, Bursa Efek Indonesia Tower 2,  16th Floor.

Interested?

Written by Ryan Novianto, founder of JakartaConcerts.com.

1. No Flash Rule
   Peraturan mendasar dari stage photography untuk international concerts adalah NO FLASH. Sebab, si artis akan merasa terganggu dengan flash yang berasal dari 20 kamera (atau bahkan lebih) yang langsung menyorot wajah mereka dari depan panggung. Dengan kondisi ini, awalnya saya sempat panik. Tapi, alhamdulillah, sekarang sudah menemukan ramuan “pas”-nya.
2. Limited Time
   Stage photographers tidak pernah punya banyak waktu untuk bereksperimen. Saya dan teman-teman dari JakartaConcerts.com paling banyak mendapat jatah memotret selama 3 lagu (kalikan @ 3-4 menit). Beberapa promotor bahkan hanya memberi jatah 5 menit untuk memotret. Dengan kondisi awal nggak tahu lighting bakal seperti apa, begitu juga blocking sang artis, belum lagi berdesakan dengan fotografer lain di pit. Terlebih lagi kalau konser tersebut menarik banyak media, rebutan spot bagus pastinya.
3. Lenses
   Harus selalu siap ganti lensa! Banyak momen di dalam konser yang jarang terjadi, misalnya freezing moments-nya Switchfoot (dan stage act lain yang gila). Kita harus bisa “meramalkan” apa yang akan terjadi selanjutnya, jadi bisa mempersiapkan mau pakai lensa apa. Saran saya, sediakan lensa tele, wide danfixed 50 mm. Tele untuk close up artis, wide untuk menangkap semua personil, dan fixed 50 mm sebagai surga, dengan bukaan 1.8, lighting redup sih santai!
4. (Another) Lighting Issue
   Jangan kaget kalau lighting jelek. Karena, di 3 lagu pertama, biasanya lightingnya super jelek. Entah sengaja atau kebetulan, tapi ini sering terjadi. Untuk menyiasatinya, siapkan ISO 800 sampai 1600.
5. Mental!
   Yang paling penting, siapkan mental, jaga emosi. Kita akan rebutan spot di pit, bisa ketutupan fotografer lain. Dan kita, nggak bisa marah dalam kondisi ini. Karena ini sama-sama pekerjaan kita, harus kompromi. Setelah jatah foto selesai, kita pun akan “diusir” sama security, terutama security dari artis itu sendiri.

Saran saya, banyak-banyak latihan di Java Jazz Festival atau event lainnya yang memperbolehkan kita membawa kamera DSLR.

See you on the press pit!

Regards,
Ryan Novianto

So, JakartaConcerts.com is one of the websites I adore very much. It’s a pioneer of a digital media who helps the promoters to distribute the news about upcoming concerts in Jakarta. Although there is another site who plagiarized JakartaConcerts.com, for me–and many euphorians out there, JakartaConcerts.com is still the one.

I talked to one of its founders, Ryan Novianto, and did a short interview.

Hi, Ryan. How are you?
Hello, I’m great!

So, what is JakartaConcerts.com exactly?
JakartaConcerts.com is a website. We’re doing our part to kick the things out into the higher gear. Kalau sebelumnya, concerts infos only appear on magazines or other conventional medias, JakartaConcerts.com tries to facilitate it all through a website. Intinya, kami adalah website yang membahas konser di Jakarta dan Indonesia, we also build a community consists of concert addicts through the site.

How did you start it all?
It started from a light discussion between Dimas Wisnuwardono (co-founder of JakartaConcerts.com -red) and me. We talked about our euphoria after watching MUSE’s concert on February 2007, a never-ending one. After that, an idea came to our minds. We wanted to do a business, to make T-shirts for concert lovers. So, dengan kaos itu kita ke konser bisa seru-seruan bareng. Then, another idea came to my mind. “Why don’t we make an online community for concert lovers?” Finally, we discussed about the idea and the concept of JakartaConcerts.com was born.

What are your achievements until now?
Since we started JakartaConcerts.com, in about one year, we have already become partners with 9 international concert promoters. You can see our logo on concert posters and witness the placement of our banners inside the concert venues. One thing Dimas and I had never thought would happen when we started JakartaConcerts.com.

How does it feel?
Everytime I see the logo of JakartaConcerts.com anywhere, the only thing that came to my mind is like I am actually asleep and my mum can wake me up anytime soon. I might say I’m so proud. I live to make my parents proud. Maybe I can do that by doing this. My daddy once called me after I got an interview with a radio station, and he said, “Good job, Yan. Keep up the good work…” It’s simple, really. But, it means a lot to me and it gives strength for me to continue what I have started.

What do you want to say to the people who are reading this article?
If you have a dream, find a way to accomplish it. Don’t only think about today’s plan, think about what you are going to do in the future. If you have any problems today, just say “Hakuna matata!” out loud. Aaaand, if you’d like to share your euphoria, don’t forget to join JakartaConcerts.com’s forum, people!

I guess that’s it all I’ll do another interview with him (or perhaps Dimas) another time. Please do see JakartaConcerts.com by clicking the links below:

www.jakartaconcerts.com (main site)
www.jakartaconcerts.org (forum)

These are some advertisements from The 2008 Hollywood Portfolio by Vanity Fair.

Rebecca, 1940
Keira Knightley and Jennifer Jason Leigh. Photograph by Julian Broad.

Strangers on a Train, 1951
Emile Hirsch and James McAvoy. Photograph by Art Streiber.

To Catch a Thief, 1955
Gwyneth Paltrow and Robert Downey Jr. Photograph by Norman Jean Roy.

The Birds, 1963
Jodie Foster. Photograph by Norman Jean Roy.

Psycho, 1960
Marion Cotillard. Photograph by Mark Seliger.

Click here for the original article.

So, last night I received an e-mail from my friend, Idenk:

Ketika Karl Marx mengumumkan Manifesto Komunis pada tahun 1848 serentak ketika itu pula masyarakat Eropa merasa tercengang oleh pergolakan-pergolakan ekonomi dan sosial yang sedang menghebohkan benua Eropa. Hantu komunis tengah bergentanyangan di Eropa dan membuktikan bahwa Manifesto Komunis adalah di antara warisan dunia yang termasyhur, yang memberi perangsang kepada gerakan yang dapat mengubah dunia secara radikal, yaitu gerakan pekerja revolusioner. Lain halnya di Indonesia dunia perfilman kini tengah mengalami ketakutan karena hantu sensor bergentayangan dalam bentuk pemotongan film dan pelarangan tayang ataupun edar. Sensor di Indonesia tidak dapat merubah apa apa kecuali menyebarkan pembodohan dan penipuan sejarah. Selama industri perfilman Indonesia masih dihegemoni oleh kekuasaan sensor jangan pernah berharap bahkan bermimpi bahwa ia akan maju. Justru sebaliknya kondisi perfilman akan mengalami stagnasi alias jalan ditempat.

Puluhan tahun sensor begitu dilembagakan sejak zaman kolonial hingga era reformasi sekarang. Apa yang terjadi kemudian adalah dukungan membabi buta oleh masyarakat terhadap sebuah lembaga bernama Lembaga Sensor Film. Upaya mengontrol film dilakukan Orde Baru dengan memberlakukan Undang Undang Film No 8/1992 untuk membentuk Lembaga Sensor Film. Sebagai sebuah lembaga yang merepresentasikan negara, Lembaga Sensor terlalu jauh mengurusi moral anak bangsa padahal dalam dirinya sendiri Lembaga Sensor adalah salah satu dari sekian lembaga pemerintah paling bobrok selain misalkan Depag ataupun PSSI. Yang menjadi fatal kemudian adalah bahwa ukuran pantas atau tidak layaknya sebuah film bagi Lembaga Sensor terletak pada adegan ciuman dan seks saja. Maka tidak heran kemudian apabila sekumpulan pembuat film progresif dalam hal ini MFI menolak kehadiran sebuah Lembaga Sensor dengan alasan MFI adalah tidak adanya kriteria dan standar yang jelas dalam mementukan sensor dan lebih baik LSF dibubarkan saja diganti dengan lembaga klasifikasi. Ide tersebut membuat orang lantas menuding mereka ingin membuat film porno. Bahkan seorang sastrawan terkemuka –yang seringkali menghujat Pramudya AT hingga akhir hayatnya –menuduh orang orang ini ingin membuat gerakan syahwat merdeka.

Sebenarnya kalau ditilik lebih jauh Lembaga Sensor Film itu mirip Majelis Ulama Indonesia dan BIN yang ketiga tiganya meminjam istilahnya Riri Riza lembaga super body. Super body berarti super korup dalam pengertian luas tidak saja melulu melakukan korupsi uang tetapi menyalahgunakan kewenangan dan kekuasaan yang dimiliki oleh lembaga tersebut. Lembaga lembaga ini mempunyai kesamaan kerja dan operasi. Yang pertama bertugas mendakwa, menilai film layak atau tidak sebuah film untuk ditonton. Sementara yang kedua hanya tau bagaimana menuduh seseorang sesat dengan argumentasi bahwa menyimpang dari ajaran yang sesungguhnya dalam hal ini ajaran Islam. Yang ketiga pun tak kalah mengerikannya adalah mencurigai, menangkap bahkan membunuh seseorang yang dianggap membahayakan integritas Negara dan keutuhan teritorial Indonesia, Munir adalah contoh dalam kasus ini. Ketiga lembaga tersebut telah melebihi kewenangan institusi Kepolisian bahkan Kejaksaan Agung sekalipun. Tak pelak kemudian ketika ada usulan bahwa sebaiknya Lembaga Sensor Film dibubarkan ketika itu pula tokoh agama yang mewakili MUI bereaksi keras dan jangan lupa juga bahwa LSF didukung habis habisan oleh preman berjubah alias Front Pembela Islam.

Membubarkan LSF ibarat Komnas HAM memanggil para purnawirawan Jendral TNI yang terlibat dalam sejumlah pelanggaran HAM yang tidak mau memenuhi panggilan padahal statusnya masih sebagai saksi bukan tersangka. Ironisnya seorang Menhan yang katanya ingin mereformasi TNI justru mendukung mereka untuk tidak perlu datang memenuhi panggilan Komnas HAM tersebut. Klasifikasi yang ditawarkan oleh MFI adalah sebuah bentuk kepedulian terhadap fenomena industri film masa kini yang menurut banyak orang semakin maju padahal adalah semu. Karena para pengusaha film sangat kooperatif dengan kinerja LSF yang sangat buruk dengan cara mencari aman dan ini pula didukung oleh mafia perfilman. Dan banyak yang tidak mengetahui bahwa apa yang terjadi dalam LSF adalah permainan bisnis segitiga antara LSF, pengusaha film dan mafia. Dan apa yang jelas terlihat dalam UU Film sangat fasis dan tidak mendidik sama sekali.

Contoh kasus adalah beberapa film Jakarta International Film Festival (Jiffest) diantaranya adalah Black Road yang menceritakan tentang keinginan besar rakyat Aceh untuk lepas dari NKRI yang diagung agungkan. Film ini disutradarai oleh jurnalis lepas asal Amerika Serikat yang sempat ditahan selama empat puluh hari dan juga dianggap sebagai mata mata GAM oleh pemerintah Indonesia. Apa yang terjadi kemudian dengan film ini adalah ditolak seutuhnya dengan alasan masyarakat Indonesia belum siap untuk menyaksikan film ini. Selain itu film Tales of Crocodiles dan Pasabe –yang kedua-duanya mengungkap kejahatan militer yang memback up para milisi untuk melakukan pembantaian terhadap mereka yang menolak bergabung dengan NKRI –juga bernasib sama harus berakhir diruang simpan film. Film film Jiffest tersebut adalah korban dari UU Film bentukan rezim totaliter Orde Baru yang mengatakan bahwa menolak film yang bertentangan dengan ketertiban umum dan rasa kesusilaan serta tidak menyinggung SARA. Hal inilah kemudian yang menjadi ukuran mereka dalam melakukan sensor tentunya sebagai kepanjangan tangan penguasa meminjam istilahnya Louis Althusser – ideological state apparatus – mereka tidak mau kekuasaan itu goyah hanya karena sebuah film. Sementara sinetron sinetron busuk tetap tayang ditelevisi dan film film sampah tetap terus masuk kedalam gedung gedung bioskop.

Penulis berpendapat bahwa ide Lembaga Klasifikasi yang ditawarkan oleh kawan kawan MFI adalah sesuatu yang masuk akal dan bukan karena film film yang mereka produksi sering mengalami pengguntingan dan penolakan untuk edar. Hal itu patut didukung oleh semua masyarakat yang mencintai film kalau memang film Indonesia ingin maju. Timbul dimasyarakat sikap reaksioner dan emosional menanggapi bahwa kawan kawan MFI sedang ingin merongrong moral bangsa adalah suatu bentuk sesat pikir karena logika yang ada dimasyarakat itu sudah terbalik bahwa ada lembaga sensor saja film film porno masih banyak ditemukan apalagi tidak. Logikanya adalah tidak sesederhana itu. Nah itulah yang kemudian menjadi tantangan kawan kawan MFI dan kita juga untuk melawan mainstream pemikiran seperti itu.

Menurut Mira Lesmana aturan klasifikasi itu justru membuat aturan perfilman lebih ketat sehingga orang akan berpikir dua kali dalam membuat film karena berdasarkan kriteria umur calon penonton. Dan ini juga memberikan tugas baru kepada bioskop untuk melarang calon penonton yang ingin menonton film yang tidak sesuai dengan kapasitas umurnya. Sehingga pemilik bioskop tidak melulu hanya mengeruk keuntungan tapi diajak untuk berpikir dan melakukan pendewasaan terhadap calon penonton. Sebenarnya apa yang ditawarkan oleh kawan kawan MFI adalah bentuk dari self regulalatory dalam industri perfilman Indonesia dengan aturan dan tata krama sehingga para pembuat film tidak seenaknya secara sembarangan membuat film yang tentunya juga memberikan tugas baru terhadap pembuat film untuk kalangan mana film itu dibuat. Syukur syukur pembuat film itu tidak membuat film film sampah dan norak.

Muhammad Idenk Rusni

Film Traffic Coordinator

Jakarta International Film Festival (Jiffest)