Tuesday, April 30, 2013

#FaktaSejarah - R.A. Kartini



     R.A. Kartini* adalah wanita yang berhasil mengedepankan emansipasi wanita dalam kumpulan karyanya yang berjudul "Habis Gelap Terbitlah Terang". Namun tahukah kalian, khususnya para wanita? R.A. Kartini membuat surat-surat tulisannya tersebut bukan hanya sekedar tulisan curahan hati melawan tirani, namun belliau membuat kumpulan karnyanya tersebut karena berasaskan salah satu dari dua pedoman sejati ummat Islam : Al-Quran.



          Siapa tak kenal R.A. Kartini? Apalagi di mata para wanita Indonesia.


     Ya, R.A. Kartini adalah salah satu pahlawan Indonesia, yang sering diperbincangkan dalam pelajaran sejarah perjuangan Indonesia. Meskipun beliau tidak bertumpah darah melawan penjajah, seperti yang dilakukan oleh pahlawan wanita seperti Cut Nyak Dien ataupun Cut Meutia. Namun beliau lebih memilih berjuang melawan ketidakadilan yang bukan hanya datang dari para penjajah saat itu, namun juga melawan ketidakadilan yang datang dari bangsanya sendiri yang masih mendeskriminasikan eksistensi dan peranan wanita terhadap sebuah perubahan.


     
     Kumpulan surat Kartini yang berjudul "Habis Gelap Terbitlah Terang" tersebut memang terinsipirasi dari isi Al-Quran, tepatnya surat Al-Baqarah ayat 257, yang artinya "Orang-orang beriman dibimbing Allah dari gelap menuju cahaya". Istilah "dari gelap menuju cahaya" atau dalam bahasa Arab disebut minazhzhulumaati ilaannuur memang memiliki makna yang dalam. Mengisyaratkan bahwa sejatinya manusia berawal dari kehidupan yang gelap, gelap dalam arti sesungguhnya saat ia berada di dalam rahim, dan gelap dalam hal berpikir, artinya manusia lahir dalam keadaan tidak tahu apa-apa tentang kehidupan dunia. Sangat merepresentasikan keadaan bangsa Indonesia yang saat itu masih "malu-malu" untuk bangkit dari kegelapan, kegelapan yang diciptakan oleh diri mereka sendiri dan kegelapan yang diciptakan oleh para penjajah. Khususnya kepada para wanita, yang pada saat itu masih hidup dalam "kegelapan", wanita tidak bisa melihat sebuah cahaya kemenangan atas peranannya sebagai wanita, untuk dirinya dan untuk keluarganya.

     Untuk itulah R.A. Kartini mengumpulkan tulisan-tulisan perjuangannya dalam karya tersebut, yang notabene berdasarkan apa yang telah termaktub dalam Al-Quran tersebut, yang memang adalah ayat 257 Al-Baqarah tersebut merupakan ayat favoritnya. Tak heran ayat tersebut menjadi referensi penulisan curahan hatinya itu.

     Namun, pada saat itu bangsa Indonesia, termasuk Kartini tidak hanya merasa "gelap" atas semua yang diakibatkan oleh penjajah, namun juga dalam hal pengetahuan agama, bahkan pemahaman Al-Quran. Pada zaman Kartini hidup, beliau dan kebanyakan orang belum mengerti betul apa yang disampaikan Allah dalam Al-Quran, karena memang Al-Quran tertulis dalam bahasa Arab, sedangkan bangsa Indonesia, khususnya Kartini dan sekitarnya sama sekali tidak mengerti makna dari bahasa Arab dalam Al-Quran, mereka hanya mengerti bahasa Jawa.

     Kartini pun berguru pada seorang Islam priyayi santri bernama Kiai Sholeh Darat** yang berasal dari Semarang, Jawa Tengah. Sebelum ia terinspirasi dari ayat 257 tersebut, beliau sebelumnya meminta kepada Kiai Sholeh Darat untuk menerjemahkan Al-Quran yang tertulis dalam bahasa Arab, menjadi Al-Quran dalam bahasa Jawa, namun tertulis dalam aksara pegon atau arab gundul. Penggunaan aksara pegon tersebut bukanlah tanpa alasan, melainkan karena pada masa penjajahan Belanda, penjajah melarang segala bentuk kegiatan penerjemahan Al-Quran karena takut bangsa Indonesia, khususnya ummat Islam menjadi pintar dan memberontak tirani. Sehingga dengan penerjemahan dengan aksara pegon mengakibatkan penjajah tidak mencurigai penerjemahan tersebut, karena aksara pegon tak ubahnya adalah aksara Arab, namun tanpa harakat atau syakkal. Aksara pegon tersebut bertuliskan pelafalan Jawa dalam tulisan arab tanpa harakat, sehingga Kartini dan ummat Islam Jawa mengerti apa yang termaksud dalam Al-Quran. Selang beberapa waktu, Al-Quran terjemahan aksara pegon tersebut dihadiahkan kepada Kartini sebagai hadiah pernikahannya dengan Bupati Rembang pada saat itu, R.M. Joyodiningrat.

     Berikutlah, sedikit cerita tentang bagaimana R.A. Kartini terinspirasi dari Al-Quran tentang minazhzhulumaati ilaannuur, yang beliau alami sendiri, dari keadaan tidak mengerti maksud dalam Al-Quran menjadi mengerti setelah diterjemahkan ke dalam bahasanya sendiri. Mungkin jika Kartini tidak berguru pada Kiai Sholeh Darat, bisa jadi sampai saat ini bangsa Indonesia, khususnya wanita tidak mengenal istilah "Habis Gelap Terbitlah Terang"
     Semoga kisah yang dialami oleh Kartini bisa menjadi inspirasi bagi kita semua, bukan hanya wanita, dalam kegigihan mencari sebuah keberaran dan keadilan. Beliau berjuang melalui apa yang ia mampu lakukan, dengan belajar dan menulis untuk memberikan secercah cahaya bagi nyawa-nyawa yang tersesat dalam kegelapan yang gulita. Dan juga sebagai pembelajaran bahwa memang sejatinya sumber dari segala ilmu pengetahuan adalah dari Al-Quran.

*Sedikit ulasan dari Novel "Sang Pencerah" karya Akmal Nasery Basral halaman 130.
**Kiai Sholeh Darat merupakan guru Kartini yang juga merupakan guru dari Muhammad Darwis atau yang kini lebih dikenal sebagai Ahmad Dahlan, pendiri Muhammadiyah. Saat itu Ahmad Dahlan sedang dalam perjalanan pertama menuju Makkah dalam rangka menunaikan ibadah haji untuk memperdalam ilmu agamanya dalam memberantas tirani kesesatan atau penyimpangan ajaran Islam di wilayah tempat ia tumbuh besar, Kauman, Yogyakarta. Beliau memperdalam pengetahuan agamanya sesaat setelah ia diperkenalkan dengan Siti Walidah, yang sampai akhir hayatnya adalah sosok istri dari Ahmad Dahlan.
***Sumber gambar : COLLECTIE TROPEN MUSEUM Portret van Raden Ajeng Kartini yang diunduh dari Wikipedia Bahasa Indonesia.

Sunday, April 28, 2013

BritZone Speech Contest 2013



Are You Ready?! We are, BritZone English Club, the most spectacular english club in the universe proudly present :

BRITZONE SPEECH CONTEST 2013!

Day, date : Saturday, May 18th, 2013
Time : 9 am - 2 pm
Venue : Education and Cultural Ministry (Kemendikbud)'s Library, Senayan, South Jakarta
Topic : "How Universal Education Influences Our Mindset"
Participants : Open for Public (Minimum 14 years old). Must be an Indonesian citizenship.
Registration fee : 50000 IDR (Including Meals and Certificate)
Prizes : Cash + Certificate

For more information just contact 083877684644 (Aulia) or 087861745062 (Sam).

Go get your chance soon, because the registration and payment must be latest by May 15th, 2013. It's time to prove how fabulous your english speech ability!


Regards,
BZ Committee 2013.

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Web Design for Everyone


     A bit definitions and the difference between design and art:

  1. Design : As in the common definiton, design has two definition, those are defining a noun and defining a verb. As a noun, design is a process in making a project. As a noun, deisgn is a final result of the project. Overall, the definition of design is a drafting process of a project, not just about fine arts, but nowadays we can find something called as "design" in any field, like technology, in office's work, or else.
  2. Art : a masterpiece that has an aesthetics. Refers to such as a fine arts like paintings, photograph, or else.

     The difference among them is can we see from those definitions, the design is something that made by someone called as designer that has a function and sometimes also conatining art. Usually use in architecture, technology, including building a website. And art is something that made just for make people feels amazed, not containing a specific function like design has.
     
     Related to a web building, a web designer not too much different with another design in some fields, but they have to know more about the segmentation of the website. There are 5 important things that required when we're gonna build a website, exactly an awesome website appearance. Those are :
  1. Measurement. It's about the margination of the web appearance, like in header and footer, it has to had a certain pixelation so it can be more look attractive.
  2. Typography. Sometime it also called as typefaces, including font character, font size, line length and spacing should be in 1,5 spaces, and also for letter spacing.
  3. White Space. It's a portion of a page left unmarked.
  4. ColouringYou have to find the common colour combination and try to make it looks eye-catching, and also comfort to see. You can do with analogue base, complementary base or nature base to pick the colours.
  5. Tidiness. It's a re-check, is your website that you built has a tidy view or not, like the right position of the contents.
     For build a website, you can try a simple application for beginner, maybe in around years 2008 you know about the Microsoft Front Page, it's a simple application to build a website. Build the contents with some text and pictures, and publish it by using your email.

     So, still feel a bit hard to do it? Try more and more, don't be hesitate and surrender when you wanna make it. :)

                                                                                                         
Regards,
PIC Wednesday Class


*Has been delivered by D.W.A.N. in BritZone Wednesday Class, April 24th, 2013.

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Being Active in Youth Organization


     In several cases, people who join an organization can feel bored for a few times after they joined it. Whether the reason is because a same daily activity in there, or because the same people in any chance, or because they didn’t feel comfort with the rule, vission and mission of the organization.
     It’s normal, because sometime people need some changes, a dynamic life so they can feel enjoy to through their time in the organization. But it becoming abnormal if the case the people didn’t observe all about the organization first, or they just join it without don’t know what they will gonna do in the future.
     So, how we can handle it, so that we’re never stuck in such as that situation. There are some tips about being active in any organization, especially we are the youth that still have a spirit to distribute our wants in a positive way, such as in youth organization. Because we are the youth of the nation. Active in organization to develop our passion, our vission, our goal, our dream to change the world with a little contribution but can give a big change.
     Here’s some tips for you the youth and the people who have a passionate soul like youth, to being more active in some organizations. There are three tips; tips before you join the organization, along you joining the organization and after you done with duty in your organization.

A.  Before :
1. Read your own mind about “where your ideas to go?”. Before you determine to joining an organization, you have to know yourself, know about your passion, your vission and your mission. Are they match with the organization has or not. If you can find your passion, vission and mission in there, so you can do it there.
2. Try to see it deeper. Try to find its strength and weakness, so if you found the strength perhaps you can develop it with your ability and optmalize it as good as possible. And if you found the weakness, you can contribute more to developin the organization as possible as you can do.
3. Find or invite more friends, so you won’t feel bored along your time in there. Because sometime, there’s still a people who feel awkward or shy to meet a new friend, too much follow their ego than follow the reality. We live in the social, so we have to socialize.
4. The last but not least, before you join the organization, you’re not allowed to always think a profit or a money interest, such as a money oriented thought. Make it as a mutualism symbiosis, so you can distribute your passion and the organization will get what its goals.

B. Along :
1.Think one step forward. Learn more about some organizational theories, such as organization behaviour, the culture of organization, administration field, even the most important knowledge when you’re joining the organization, there are management and communication field. Both of them is a supported lesson about your do’s in the organization. Management is for increase your ability about managing something light or urgent things, and the communication is a base guideline to communicate with your seniors, colleagues, partners or even with your sponsorship companies.
2. Increase your flight time with learning by doing. So after you well-know about the theories above, you can implement what you know in the real practice. You can get more by doing what you’ve learnt.
3. Set yourself when you’re trusted to be the one of the committee. Say yes if you’ve been ready, or just say no if you think you’re not ready for the current time. So if you just say yes for any chance, sometimes it’ll be useless what you’ve done jst because you never feel set about the responsibility.
4. Have some mentors, but you have to can distinguish who’s the good one and who’s the bad one, and it’s hard to see. Sometimes a bad one can act like a good and a kind person. But he/she can “stabbed” you in the back, so be wise for every possibility.
5. Sincere or whole-hearted to do anything, don’t put any personal expectations like you wanna get earn from your effort, because it’s very bad thought. For example is you joining an organization just because you wanna get a girl/boyfriend or you just want to put it in your curriculum vitae, but do maximize all your good goals. So, same with before you join it, you hace to think and do a mutualism symbiosis. Get your goals each other.
6. Do teamwork. That’s why it named organization, everything inside it is work as team, don’t do independently, you have to share everything with the others, as long as you didn’t share your girl/boyfriend.
7. Find your successor, to continuing your efforts and your steps in the organization, because we can do all the plans along our time in there, so you can share your experiences to the new one, so that they can understand about what are they supposed to do and it’s a way to regenerate your organization.
8. Ask some feedbacks from your friends, partners, seniors and other members or the committees. It use to develop yourself in another way outside, can make yourself better in all the way.

C. After :
1. Keep in touch with keep making a contact with the new generation about the organization development, Or with participated to come in any event, so you can know the new one, and they also can know about your existence in the organization.
2. Take care with your organization, such as give them some donation if your organization is being a bad situation, but don’t too frequently give a donation, because it can make them always dependence with some donations. The good way is you give donation but don’t forget to give them some suggestion to make money by themselves, like an entrepreneur way.

* This material has been delivered by Abdus Somad in BritZone Wednesday Class, April 17th, 2013.
** BritZone Contact Person on +6285880851559 (Abdus Somad | PIC Wednesday Class)

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Ice Breaking in Public Speaking - ToC Class BritZone English Club | April 9th, 2013

     Sometime in a public speaking, the speaker feels like a nervous or feels like numb to deliver the material to the audience. And a good speaker has to skillful to break the "cold" like that. Perhaps with a little bit of joke, or elses.
     That's something called as Ice Breaking. It can be do with a game, chit-chat to know each other or some warming up to break the cold situation. It did for increase the receptiveness the audience about your substantial of your presentation in a public speaking. Here's some points that i successfully noted from Visy's topic last time about Ice Breaking in a Public Speaking. Hope can be a good information for whole of the world.
1. Put yourself in the right path. Including the way you stand in the stage, your stand style, your gesture and even your opening style. Try to make something relax for the yourself and the audience. Because if you open your section with something serious, all the atmosphere later will feels like too rigid and the audience will a lil bit hard to get what you mean about your presentation / what you're talking about. Related to your performance, don't fear to play with colorful suit but don't too make hurt the audience's eye. For female, use some accessories like necklace, and for male use tie to get attention from the audience.
2. Make a joke. But remember, just a lil bit joke, don't make it too much. Because in the several cases, when the speaker say some jokes with a short time range, the audience will just can remember about your joke, not about your substantial presentation. And the important things about joke is do not ever make a joke about races, religions and gender. Those things are sensitive things to say, especially to make those as a joke. But if you still wanna make the situation being warm, try to make a joke about those things but still in the right situation, such as in the right place, in the right people or else, and don't make it too long, just a few moments. And don't forget to directly say "sorry" after you tell about those jokes.
3. You have to be able handling your nervous when you're at the stage. If you're too nervous before or along your time, just make some warming up. You can make it by yourself or you can ask the audience to make it more relax. Because if you keep stand still with your nervousness, it'll be bad, very very bad. Visy has make a parable of a chain of nervous just like this : Nervous -> Embarrassed -> Block Social Life -> Feel Lonely -> Feel Get a Mental Disorder -> Getting Older -> Despair -> Dead. Those things are dangered, right?
4. If you have an accident along your appearance, like your feet get stumbled, just make it relax, you can make it an allibi and stay cool, and of course don't be panic. Don't forget to a lil bit laugh to melt the cold situation.
5. The last, tick-tock your preparation for your performance, put an ego on yourself, make it as your show, be confidence, supple and flexible, and don't forget to say a gratitude to the audience, say thank you for everything else done.

*Has been delivered in Training of Counductor (ToC) Class BritZone English Club on Tuesday, April 9th, 2013 by Visy Yulanda as the conductor.

Preparing A Good Presentation - ToC Class BritZone English Club | April 2nd, 2013

What things that will you do when you're gonna make a presentation in a public speaking? Want to know about it all? Let's go to the point!

There are 5 tips or steps for you to preparing a good presentation that will give you a satisfied result in the end of your section, there are :

  1. Audience Analysis and Information Collection
  2. Confidence Building
  3. Speech Organization
  4. Body Language
  5. Vocal Variety
     First, is about audience analysis and information collection. Audience analysis is an activity that you have to do so you can understand each background of your audience, perhaps you can make a segmentation based on age, based on educational background, based on profession background or else. With doing some segmentation like that, you can adjust your substantial presentation so the audience can easily remember your substantial material.
     Besides, don't forget to enrich your vocabulary, so that you won't be confusing about what you want to say in front of the audience. You can write down in a paper the new vocabulary that maybe you can forgot when you deliver your presentation. It surely can help you to make a good language to make audience understand easier what you mean about. And if you have write down your new vocabulary, do a recheck on your material, is that too long or suit enough. If it's still too long to say to the audience, just remember the "KISS". What is that? KISS is stands for "Keep It Short and Simple". Don't try to deliver too long material to the audience because it can make them feel bored and will leave the hall.
     After you have make it short and simple, recheck the substantial, is that has been encompassed your material or still too messed up. Try to find some important points to say and try to make it as a golden information. The gold information is something that the audience didn't know it yet, so it can make them say "That's All" when you say the golden information. 
     Second is about confidence building. The first step to build your confidence is try to enrich your information as much as you can related to your presentation, then do rehearsal. After that, you have to keep feel confidence with some important points, it's like fulfill their hope. Yeah, the audience comes to your presentation is want to get something new. How can grow up more confidence to ourselves? Here are : They're waiting for me, They want to know and get something from me, and they trust me and appreciate me. Guarantee, those minds will keep you stand in a good self-confidence.
     Third is about speech organization. There are 3 points related to speech organization, they are for opening, body and conclusion of your material. For the opening section, you have to start it with something relax, like an introducing between you and the audience or about something latest happen in your around. A good opening section, sometime can be determining your successful of your whole presentation, and it can enchanting the audience about what you will say in the middle of the section. For the body message, you can make it short and simple, like has been written above, remember the "KISS". After all, make a conclusion, some words that representative your whole presentation, it's for reminding the audience about the message that you've been told to them.
     Fourth is about body language. Starts from the way you stand up, gesture and movement. The way you stand up is purposing to get attention from the audience, try to stand up straight but still in a relax style. Gesture, it's related to your hand. Use gesture for the material that you're understanding, so your gesture won't be useless. Don't too much gesture, because it will be really disturbing your performance. And then, try to make some movement of your position, so you can feel more relax and the audience won't be tired to look at the way you stand.
     The last one, fifth is about vocal variety. It's related to your intonation, your up and down town. Make it right with the situation of your words. Then create your emotion naturally, so that's why you need a rehearsal before. The emotion will be effected to the audience to get what you mean in your presentation, and will give them an emphasis so they can easily about the meaning. And the last, recognize your vocal characteristic, if you can know it, so you will be get  a better feedback after you do a presentation.

     So, starts from now if you wanna do a presentation in a public speaking, make sure you can remind these things to give you a better performance. Cheers!

*Has been delivered in Training of Counductor (ToC) Class BritZone English Club on Tuesday, April 2nd, 2013 by Faizal Ahda as the conductor.