The Role of Mass Media in Shaping Identity Construction 5

3.4.1 Representation of Muslims after 9/11 and identity construction

Most respondents agreed that the events of 9/11 marked a turning point in the history of Muslims around the world, in general, and those living in Western countries, in particular. Most informants who have been living in Britain for more than 20 years, however, asserted that though the representation of Muslims by the British media deteriorated after 9/11, it had already become noticeably negative after the Rushdie affair. According to them, the current situation is a continuation of the past treatment of Muslims by the media. Azzam, for instance, notes:

Certainly things nose-dived in the last 3 or 4 years and the media have exploited the events of 9/11 to stigmatise Muslims. [But] it started with the Rushdie affair, which cast a very black shadow on Muslims’ image […], it is as if it happened again and again.

If the Rushdie affair and the second Gulf war propelled for the first time British Muslim diasporas to the front scene, the events of 9/11 further set them in the centre of media attention and public opinion concern. While the coverage of Muslims-related issues by the British media has increased dramatically after that date, the concern of Muslims over being constantly pointed at has equally increased. Thus, all informants expressed that while the fear of being physically targeted in public places lasted only a few months after the events, the concern over the fact that they are singled out as Muslims and associated with terrorism has persisted. One of the respondents said that he was physically attacked in the market, while another was verbally abused in the street shortly after 9/11. Most of them expressed their fear for their safety, but especially of being spotted out as Muslims in the street. Yones, for example, says:

I tried to change so as not to appear as a Muslim. Before, I let my beard grows sometimes and I wore the traditional Moroccan dress… I used to walk in the city centre and people came and asked me about the dress. After 9/11 I started to fear to go out with my wife as she wears the veil. We feared reaction from people who do not know Islam.

Though the fear of being physically or verbally attacked in public places receded quickly, the life of British Muslims as a diasporic community has changed forever. The post-9/11 events, namely the war in Afghanistan, the invasion of Iraq, terrorist threats and anti-terrorism measures taken by the British government, have contributed decisively to keep various media focused on issues related to Muslims in general. Most informants expressed their concern about the fact that British media cover news and issues about Muslims in a way that associate between Islam as a religion and terrorism. Indeed, some informants expressed doubts about the practices of some media for their constant coverage radical Islamic figures, such as Abu Hamza Al-Masri. Saeed, for instance, states that:

The British media rely on unqualified people to speak about Islam, like some religious imams. [The media] don’t care about making people know Islam, but to stigmatise it. [You] see how they make interviews with Abu- Hamza Al-Masri. It’s a waste of time. It doesn’t benefit neither Muslims nor the British.

Indeed, with his radical discourse and provocative messages, Al Masri is recurrently interviewed or quoted by the British Media. Most informants insisted on the fact that the media are giving undue attention to that cleric and presenting him as a representative of Muslims in Britain. Actually, Raed asserts that the current war on terrorism has created a favourable atmosphere for programs about Islam to mushroom quickly in recent years:

9/11 was a golden opportunity for all those who wanted to harm Islam. Before, if they wanted to talk about it endlessly, a lot of people will be tired of it. Now, the constant mentioning of terrorism makes people keen at understanding more about those who threaten their life. There is more consumption of these programs.

The possibility for Muslim diasporas to compare both British and Arab transnational media coverage of the war on terrorism, increases Muslims’ mistrust of British media’s intentions and overall performance. Comparing between the British media coverage of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and their coverage of the events in Palestine and Iraq, Yones says:

The world knew about September 11 because it was covered around the clock. You watched buildings falling, people dying, people crying. They made interviews with people who lost their loved ones. For that reason people were affected. In Palestine or Iraq they don’t talk to those who lost their relatives […], even when Al-Jazeera or Al-Arabia show pictures, they say the pictures are fake.

Actually, while some informants declared they are not practicing Muslims, they indicated that they can identify with other British Muslims on the ground that they were all treated in the same way by the ‘Other’ and by the media, especially in recent years. Commenting on the way she thinks British media portray Muslims, Rajaa affirms:

I see there is a world of differences between us […]. When I read newspapers, I feel closer to my people, I feel the differences, I feel they don’t understand us, and I see that, for them, we will always remain these inferior people with problems, just causing problems. I don’t think they all think the same way, at least consciously, but subconsciously most think in this way.

Despite being a non practicing Muslim, Rajaa’s feeling of bitterness about the way Muslims are perceived is clearly worded in a discourse that sets up clear boundaries between ‘us’ Muslims, and ‘they’ the media and white majority, as a whole. It is also evident that the media are perceived to represent the dominating ethnic group and the opinions of its members. Furthermore, a number of respondents expressed that the media have played a big role in magnifying the danger of Islamic fundamentalism in Britain. Khan (2000: 36) argues that ‘the ‘spectre’ of ‘Islamic fundamentalism’ has come to be seen in Britain as a particularly sinister new sect of Islam totally committed to the destabilization and destruction of everything western’. This fact, many Muslims believe, have contributed to the enactment of the anti-terrorism law in Britain. While all Muslims may feel targeted by this law, it is particularly Arab Muslims who feel victimised most by it, since the majority of those who have been arrested by virtue of this law are from Arab origins (Green, 2003). Commenting on the aftermath of 9/11 and its impact on his life and that of his family, Azzam states:

Now we think that one day will come and we will have to go out from this country. It is not a problem for me, for I have my roots, the idea is not so fearful to me. After all, when I came here, I didn’t have the intention of staying forever. But my children don’t know any other country. They consider England their home. It’s something fearful that a day will come and they will say to them you are not British, and they will have to search for another identity.

It is evident that for many diasporic Muslims, the Muslim identity is not taken as an entity that can be clearly defined by itself. It is more a discourse about being rejected and denied to be ‘British’, and about resisting that other by bringing one’s difference to the fore. Ansari (2003:9) rightly notes that the Muslim identity in Britain is being constructed ‘very much against a background of negative perceptions about who and what Muslims are. It is evolving as an identity of ‘unbelonging’ in a ‘cultural of resistance’ and in contest with hegemonic British identity’. Indeed, though they may not all identify entirely with their community, British Muslims are unified by and within the Other’s discourse, and also through their own experience and attempt to negate or transcend that discourse.

Yet, even if the data generated by informants reflects a predominant negative view of the role of local media, some informants, nonetheless, pointed out that some media and especially television programs try to be balanced and give a fair view about Muslims. But these programs remain insufficient and inadequate to redress the predominant negative image the media give about Islam. Commenting on this issue, Anas notes:

Channels 4 and 5 for instance show some programs that give a fair image on Muslims. But the English [audience] may retain one good image only to be destroyed in another program. They need to give more balanced programs.

Moreover, while some respondents may feel bitter at the way British media represent or exclude them, they believe at the same time that these media do not determine their fate, neither the way other British people may perceive them. Indeed, Respondents also indicated that because of the unprecedented media attention Muslims got after 9/11, some English people started to show more interest in Muslims and their religion. Rashid, for instance, says:

The media may not be showing reality about us. Some people might have negative impressions about Muslims. But when I invite some [colleagues] to my house, they see our hospitality, our life at home with our families. It changes the images they have in mind.

Equally important, all respondents indicated that British Muslims themselves share a considerable part of responsibility about the way the media represent them. As Azzam notes:

We are giving a negative image about ourselves. We are giving them the chance to do it. The media are double edged and we can use them also for our advantage. You see younger generations who speak beautiful English, and attend TV programmes and discuss in full confidence and authority.

Azzam’s comparison between the performance of the first and second generations of diasporic Muslim shows that people believe in the importance of human action and their own ability both to construct their identity and to influence the way the media represent them. It also indicates that while the first generation of British Muslims may have faced enormous difficulties to integrate into society and proclaim their identity in a positive way, the second generation may be more able to address this situation.

To sum up, mass media play, indeed, an important role, both as agents of inclusion and exclusion, in the way British Muslims construct their identity. Arab transnational media contribute decisively to reinforcing the sense of belonging to the local Arab and Muslim community and to the larger communities within the Arab and Islamic Worlds. At the same time, they act also as a background against which local media are compared and judged. On the other hand, the local media predominately reinforce among diasporic Muslims the sense of being different from and rejected by the other, namely the dominant ethnic group. This contributes decisively to reinforce religious affiliation as a reaction and contestation among them.

The relationship between mass media and identity construction, however, is far from being that of a cause/ consequence one. Diasporic Muslims interact actively with both transnational and local media, mix them creatively, and try to submit them to the modalities of their particular experiences. Indeed, if identity is discursively constructed, it refers less to a pre-existing cultural or ethnic essence and, as far as British Muslims are concerned, more to the way British Muslims actively interact with the modalities that shape their daily life and existence.

Conclusion

The data analysis seems to broadly confirm the two hypotheses put forward at the beginning of this paper. Mass media do play a sensitive and influential role in the way members of Muslim diasporas in Britain construct their identity. The pervasiveness of mass media and their centrality in both the public and private spheres entitle them to influence the symbolic space within which diasporic Muslims make sense of their existence and the world. Furthermore, the fact that diasporic Muslims consume both local and transnational media simultaneously reinforces the role mass media play in shaping the way British Muslims construct their identity. The presence of different and even opposed media discourses on highly sensitive issues makes these discourses more salient and highlights their difference and polemic structures. This fact is bound to shape not only the way diasporic Muslims consume various media texts, but also their perception of themselves as a ‘beleaguered’ minority, and their sense of ‘Otherness’.

The research also confirmed that the events of 9/11 and their consequences had a considerable impact on the way media cover Muslims and Islam as well as on the way members of Muslim diasporas construct their identity. It further revealed that diasporic Muslims view the local media’s performance after 9/11 as a continuation of past treatment of Muslim minority whenever a major crisis surges that involves Muslims within Britain or outside it.

Nevertheless, the research has demonstrated that mass media do not determine the way diasporic Muslims construct their identity, nor do they monopolise all the spaces and channels through which these people perceive the world and organise their daily life experience. Diasporic Muslims do not consume media texts passively or in one similar way. Rather, the interaction between these people and the media is dynamic. It is one where the shared and personal experiences, and the particularity of individual traits are brought to bear on the act of producing meaning from media texts. More importantly, mass media are not the only forms of institutional communication that have a bearing on the way diasporic Muslims construct their identity. Other institutions, such as mosques or community societies, have largely contributed to the strengthening of diasporic Muslims’ identification with an imagined ‘Muslim community’ that transcends divisions and differences between the various Muslim ethnic groups.

It should be noted that one of the most important findings of the research is that the notion of ‘Muslim identity’ is perceived by most diasporic Muslims more as a form of identification with a rejected minority than as a cultural or ethnic unity. In this light, I would side with Hall (1996: 8) who claims that when identities ‘emerge within the play of specific modalities of power’, they are more ‘the product of the marking of difference and exclusion, than they are the sign of […] unity’. This fact begs another important question related to the concept of multiculturalism, namely the possibility of diasporic Muslims’ assimilation into the British society. Indeed, because it is believed to be in opposition with the basic foundations of the British society, ‘Muslim identity is regarded as the illegitimate child of the British multiculturalism’ (Modood 2000:51) (my translation). The future of the ‘Muslim identity’ and that of the ‘Muslim community’ in Britain in the context of a multicultural society, is an important issue that requires further research beyond the scope of this dissertation.

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Interview Question

This list of questions was used only as a guide during the interviews. The latter were semi-structured and did not include all the questions. They did not follow the order below, either.

1. General and ‘warm –up’ questions

1.1 How long you have been living in Britain?

1.2 Do you like life here?

1.3 Tell me how you came to Britain and how you managed to settle down when you first came?

2. Identity

2.1 Religious and national identity

2.1.1 Are you a practicing Muslim?

2.1.2 If yes, how often do you go to the mosque?

2.1.3 How important is the mosque to you as a Muslim living in a Western country?

2.1.3 Do you follow Sharia (Traditional Islamic law) strictly in your life?

2.1.4 Is it always possible for you to follow Sharia in Britain? Give me examples.

2.1.5 Do you consider yourself a British? Or, are you looking forward to become a British national?

2.1.6 What does British nationality mean to you?

2.1.7 Do you think being British contradicts that of being a Muslim?

2.2 Community and identity

2.2.1 What are the ethnic backgrounds of your friends?

2.2.2 How often do you meet? How important they are to you? What do you do when you meet? Issues you discuss?

2.2.3 Do you have relatives in Britain? Do you meet them often?

2.2.4 Do you speak Arabic at home, or with friends?

2.2.5 Do you have social contacts with people from non-Muslims and non-Arab origins? Give me examples.

2.2.6 Do you feel discriminated against for being a Muslim or an Arab?

2.2.7 Do you have personal experience of discrimination? Where?

2.2.9 How do you think the majority of white British people view British Muslims?

3. Mass media reception and consumption

3.1 Media preferences

3.1.1 Do you read newspapers?

3.1.2 Which ones you like most? Why?

3.1.3 What do you read exactly? What news interests you most?

3.1.4 What are the TV channels you watch regularly?

3.1.5 What programs do you watch regularly? Give me examples?

3.1.6 Why do you prefer those particular programs?

3.1.7 What did you watch last night/week for example? How did you find it?

3.1.8 How many hours per day you spend normally watching TV?

3.1.9 With whom do you watch TV normally at home?

3.1.10 Do you plan what you are going to watch?

3.1.11 Who decides about the programs to watch at home?

3.2 Evaluation of mass media performance in general

3.2.1 Do you read/watch any articles/ programs about Muslims in the local media? Give me examples.

3.2.2 What do you think about the news the local media publish/broadcast about Muslims? Give me examples.

3.2.3 Have you heard lately of the news reported by some media about the fact that some ‘Islamic’ terrorists who intended to attack Manchester United Stadium?

3.2.4 How do you find the way the local media cover news about terrorism and Islamic fundamentalism within Britain and in the world at large?

3.2.5 How do you deal with such news? Don’t you feel concerned as a Muslim?

3.2.6 Are you satisfied with the way the Local Media portray Muslims? Why?

3.2.7 What are the things you don’t like in the way mass media cover Muslims? Tell me of an example.

3.2.8 Do you feel there is a difference in the way transnational and local media cover the war in Iraq or the situation in Palestine?

3.2.9 If yes, how do you explain such difference?

3.3 Evaluation of mass media performance after 9/11

3.3.1 Do you think that your life as a Muslim has been affected after 9/11? If yes, in what ways?

3.3.2 Do you think that the way local media represent Muslims has become worse after 9/11?

3.3.3 Do you think Muslims now are represented as before/ worse, better?

3.3.4 what do you think about the repeated media coverage of news and events related to some ‘Islamic’ figures as Abu Hamza Al Masri?

3.3.5 Do you think the media exaggerate about the fear from terrorism?

3.3.6 Do you think the media influence the way ‘English’ people perceive Muslims in Britain?

Appendix II
List Of Respondent

1. Anas: British Moroccan, 38 years old. He has a BA and is self-employed. He has been living in Britain for 12 years.

2. Yones: British Moroccan, 40 years old. He has a BA and works as a civil servant. He has been living in Britain for 10 years.

3. Rashid: British Iraqi, 52 years old. He has a PhD and he is self-employed. He has been living in Britain for 20 years.

4. Rajaa: British Egyptian, 37 years old. She has a PhD and works in a company. She has been living in Britain for 11 years.

5. Azzam: British Libyan, 62 years old. He has an MA and he is retired. He has been living in Britain for 26 years.

6. Saeed: British Algerian, 42 years old. He has an undergraduate diploma and he is self-employed. He has been living in Britain for 13 years.

7. Hisham: British Iraqi, 50 years old. He has a BA and works as a teacher in private schools. He has been living in Britain for 18 years.

8. Raed: British Iraqi, 48 years old. He has an MSc and he is self-employed. He has been living in Britain for 18 years.

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Appendix III
Interview sample

This interview was conducted in Arabic, with Anas on May 23, 2004 in Leeds, UK. The following transcript is my translation:

Q- How long you have been living in Britain and how did you settle down?

A- I came to Britain 12 years ago to do graduate studies at a University in London. Unfortunately I encountered some problems at home and I could not finish my studies. I decided to stay here for a while, but I did not have the intention to stay for a long time.

Q- So how do you qualify in general your experience here, was it hard, easy to live here?

A- It was a rich experience. You live in a repeated pattern at home, but when you immigrate you live new things everyday. But it was very hard for me during the first years. I had nightmares, sometimes I cried. Everybody go through these experiences. But afterwards things go more smoothly and quickly.

Q- What type of difficulties did you encounter before you got used to life here?

A- The most difficult thing is to get used to the culture and system here. In many other European countries they have a more flexible system, but her things are different, and the law is rigid. Moreover, it was difficult to understand people when you don’t know well the language and the culture. For us, there is no problem in living in France as we have a background about the Francophone culture. But the British culture is different.

Q- Is the fact that you are a Muslim Arab had made it more difficult for you to get to know the local culture and people? For example, if a Muslim cannot go to the pub, it will be difficult for him to socialize with the local people, isn’t it?

A- As a Muslim just a little. As a Moroccan, I don’t think so. When I came in 92, few people knew something about Morocco. You know though I come from a traditional family in Morocco, going to pubs and drinking alcohols was not unfamiliar to me at home. You know these things are normal in Morocco. Moreover, it is not a condition that you should go to a pub to get familiar with local people. If you are educated, you speak good English you can discuss with them. If you know how to communicate your point of view they will understand you. It’s not those things that will affect your integration at all.

Q- So, you had no experience of discrimination against you as a Muslim?

A- There are some people whose behavior towards you changes when they know you are a Muslim. But I try not to show that I’m sensitive to it or that they talk to a recluse or a fundamentalist person. I believe in interaction and that’s why I allow people to ask me any question. After 9/11 many people came to me to ask me if those who were behind the terrorist attacks were connected to Islam. I confess I found it difficult to convince them. Although similar things were perpetrated by Christians and Jews, but we never say they are Christian terrorists for example. In any case we must understand first why they did those things.

Q- Was your life affected after 9/11? Did you feel any difference before and after that date?

A- Personally no, not very much. I have had personally no experience of racism against me after that date. I heard of certain things of this sort but they were not that serious, despite the fact that perception towards Muslims became more suspicious. Before you could wear the Palestinian scarf, for example, without being noticed. Now you are spotted out, but it all depends on where you are. I saw recently a policewoman wearing a scarf in London. You can see there are more tolerance here than at home. Maybe the perception of Muslims was largely negative even before 9/11. Those events only put Muslims at the center of media attention, and the media were waiting for such an opportunity. I tried to participate in many associations to try to make people more aware of what’s going on, but [Muslims] lack the will and sometimes sincerity to do it. We should try to be ambassadors to maintain our own reputation.

Q- Don’t you think that by covering constantly figures like Abu Hamza Al Masri the mass media do more harm than good to British Muslims?

A- But the problem is that fundamentalist people like Abu Hamza Al Masri take money from English taxpayers and take social money over their children and after that they say they don’t accept the laws of this country. I participated in a number of manifestations in London and in one of them, which was against the war in Iraq, I was so angry about the behavior of the members of the Islamic Liberation party. We were more than 500,000 people, half of them were [white] English. We were heading towards Hyde Park where speeches were going to be delivered, and there the members of that Islamic party were holding a huge placard over which was written ‘Reject Western values’. But the people who were participating with them in the demonstration were doing so out of their ‘western’ values. This type of behavior of some Muslims is doing more harm to many other Muslims. But of course there are some people who want to combat Islam. They want to banish it whenever they have an opportunity. They might be a minority but they are powerful because they have their hands everywhere.

Q- What are your main sources of news? I mean what newspapers do you read, what TV channels do you watch normally?

A- I consume a lot of TV. It might be a passive way to learn but it is very useful. I like to watch Arab channels such as Abu Dhabi and Al-Jazeera. They have very useful programs. I watch also BBC. You find in it things you cannot find in other channels or even newspapers. I read sometimes newspapers, but I have not developed the habit of reading them each morning… I read them only when I have time. I like to watch some programs such as Panorama and Ramsey’ Kitchen nightmares on channel 4. In this program this chief enter an unsuccessful restaurant and within two weeks he turns it into a new one. I also started to watch programs on the renovation of houses because I intend to invest in the real-estate business. [These programs] teach you such useful things.

Q- Do you watch these programs at home with your family?

A- Not all the time. My wife prefers some channels and I prefer others. I prefer news and documentaries while she prefers mainly fiction. But we manage to share each other programs.

Q- What about news, what channels you watch most when you want to learn about such events as the war in Iraq or Palestine?

A- There are many channels, but Al-Jazeera remains certainly for me the best one, at least in the Arab World. It has gained a wide reputation of fairness. You feel it has more independence. They have a great freedom. It has unified the Arab public opinion on many issues. Because my wife knows also English, so we don’t have a problem with watching English channels as well. We watch both and sometimes we do balance between the two. But I prefer Arab channels more.

Q- What about the local channels?

A- It’s sad to say that the BBC took side with the government in the last war against Iraq. Before, it tried to be more or less objective by giving space to other voices. During the last war it was not like the Independence or The Guardian. I like also to follow Channels 4 and 5 also because they show some programs that give a fair image on Muslims. But the English [audience] may retain one good image only to be destroyed in another program. They need to give more balanced programs.

Q- Are you satisfied then with the way the local media portray Muslims?

A- In the domain of the media good news is no news. Programs about religion and prayer are broadcast in early morning because it does not concern people. But in the case of a crime about ‘honor’ they gave it more attention. But you heard about the case of that journalist in the BBC [Robert Kilroy] who denigrated the Arabs but was sacked from his job because of it. Such people hate Arabs and Muslims. We should not lie to ourselves. But they are not the majority. They are so powerful because we are weak. Some Islamic associations try to make people here more aware about our culture but the problems are that [Muslims] themselves are not very disciplined. Sometimes the media avoid covering some sensitive issues, but when something happens such as when a girl is compelled into marriage by her family, journalists like Roy exploit it to attack Islam.

Q- Do you think that the local media have a great influence on the way people perceive Muslims?

A- [The media] are powerful. Most people here rely on such newspapers such as the Sun to know about the world. [I think] 80% of people read the Sun. [those newspapers] don’t say the truth and they know how to attract people, and people don’t bother much to learn about things. Most people I talk to say that their government sent troops to Iraq to liberate it from Saddam Hussein. When I told them it’s not true they just don’t like to listen to you or believe you. But it is the responsibility of Muslims also. For example we can win the battle of the public opinion over issues of Palestine and Iraq because they concern ending colonization of people. If there were a consistent and sincere effort from us we can influence the public opinion in Britain, but many associations that try to do that are either ineffective because of internal divisions or their members are too radical. We should try to build a consensus over laic grounds and try to build alliances with other movements such as the Left and Green movements. Here people have the predisposition to believe both parties because they are ignorant about such issues. But we should not consider them as enemies. When I explain to them about what happen in Palestine, they show they are surprised. They don’t know that all that happen there.

Q- You spoke about laicism, do you think it is easy to live as a Muslim in country such as Britain?

A- Islam is a very flexible religion. Consider prayer, you can do it even with your eyelashes if you are disabled. It allows you to do compromises when you need to. The system here also allows you to pray at work even if you are going to pray five times a day as long as you don’t take half an hour each time and you don’t abuse the system. Mosques are open here and you can stay all day there and this is not possible even in some Arab and Islamic countries. They are not totally secular here, but because of tolerance they accept others.

Q- Where are your friends from? How is your relationship with them?

A- They are from various origins but mainly Arab and Muslims. When I came to Britain, I had a different perception of Arabs from the Middle East and the Gulf and they also. For me they looked dull and I felt I had no connection with them. I didn’t even want to know them. I used to go out with the Spanish, the French and the Italians. I felt closer to them. It is only later that I started to know that I share also with [Arab from the Middle east] many things. When I got to know some Palestinians, I started to feel more at ease with them more than the Europeans. When we met, [instead of drinks], there was a lot of food which I like and there was a lot of fun. I married then a woman from the Gulf. So I discovered they are not that different from us.

Q- What about religion are you a practicing Muslim?

A- When I came here I was not. But here I started to practice. When I met those Arabs [from the Middle East], I started to attend with them some ceremonies like in Eid Al–Fet’r and Ramadan. I experienced things I never knew back at home. Here there is a religious freedom more than in our countries. In the Mosque here, you have on Monday a religious sermon by Sheikh Judea. Tuesday, you can have a lecture, the next day an exposition, every day a new activity… you see… you sit with an Imam who was sentenced to eight years of prison in his country and he allows you to ask any question in your mind and he encourages you to think and gives you freedom to think. This doesn’t exist at home. They used to teach us only ablutions and inheritance.

Q- So can we say now that you feel you are a Muslim first as you discovered that you are close to other Muslims here?

A- No, I feel more as a Moroccan. I’m first Moroccan. Moroccan culture is deeply rooted in me. The other Muslims look at me as a Moroccan too and it is in the subconscious.

Q- But you are also a British national?

A- Yes, but there is no contradiction in it. You have Jews, Sheikh and others, so why not Muslims or Moroccans. It’s not a problem. They don’t require from you anything beyond your capacity [in Britain]. So my first and most allegiance is to Morocco. But I swore that I won’t do anything that can harm Britain. I may not like the policy of the British government, but I’m a British too. I may participate in rallies, contribute money to lobby the government, but we should as Muslims respect the law of this country with whom we have a pact of allegiance and trust.

READ MORE - The role of mass media in shaping identity construction 7

Hidup..

und setzt ihr nicht das Leben ein, nie wird euch das Leben gewonnen sein... Hidup yang tak dipertaruhkan, tak akan pernah dimenangkan (Friedrich Schiller)

READ MORE - Hidup..

Eco-Theology ;

Kehidupan manusia seolah sudah semakin menyusahkan dan menyulitkan. Belum usai konflik perang antar manusia yang sangat melelahkan dan memakan banyak korban, ketenangan kehidupan manusia kembali terancam. Alam, baik itu darat, laut dan udara, seolah tanpa henti terus menerus mengusik ketenangan kehidupan manusia.

Akhir tahun 2004, terlebih negara-negara Asia Selatan dan Tenggara di kawasan pesisir samudera hindia, dunia dikejutkan oleh gelombang tsunami yang menelan jutaan nyawa manusia. Setelah itu, seolah tanpa henti, alam terus bergerak menebar ancaman bagi kehidupan manusia.

Beberapa bulan lalu badai Topan Sidr berkecepatan 250 km/per jam menghantam wilayah Bangladesh. Jutaan warga kehilangan tempat tinggal dan 3.000 orang tewas. Sebelumnya badai katrina tanpa ampun menghantam New Orleans AS. Diteruskan dengan kebakaran besar dikarenakan suhu panas melanda California. Tidak terlihat keperkasaan Arnold Schwarzeneger, sang gubernur California, yang selama ini diperlihatkan di film-film action Hollywood.

Setelah itu gelombang panas terjadi di Eropa Selatan melanda Yunani, Rumania, dan Bulgaria. Banjir juga terjadinya di beberapa kota di Indonesia, seperti Jakarta, Gorontalo, Aceh, Sumatra Utara, Sulawesi Barat, dan Sulawesi Tengah. Kejadian angin puyuh, topan, dan gelombang laut turut melanda pantai utara Jawa dan selatan.

Fenomena alam ini tak urung menarik perhatian dunia internasional. Karena fenomena ini merupakan akibat dari pola hidup masyarakat global, pertemuan-pertemuan internasional secara intens dilakukan untuk merumuskan tindakan bersama dalam rangka menyelamatkan lingkungan.

Pertemuan pertama dilaksanakan di Stockholm dalam sebuah confrence ”The 1972 UN Conference on the Human Environment”. Setelah itu, dilanjutkan dengan the brundtland report, “Our Common Future 1987” sehingga menghasilkan rumusan konsep tentang pembangunan yang berkelanjutan. Pembangunan yang peduli dan bersahabat dengan alam.

Tidak cukup sampai disitu, 5 tahun berikutnya di Rio de Janeiro Brasil digelar Konfrensi Tingkat Tinggi Bumi (The 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development) yang menegaskan tentang perlunya paradigma pembangunan berkelanjutan (sustainable development) menjadi agenda politik pembangunan di semua negara tanpa terkecuali. Karena masih banyak yang belum tuntas, 10 tahun berikutnya di gelar “World Summit on Sustainable Development” di Johannesberg, Afrika Selatan yang lebih mempertegas pembumian pembangunan yang berkelanjutan.

Puncaknya adalah saat ini, 3-14 Desember 2007, Indonesia menjadi tuan rumah konferensi internasional perubahan iklim di Nusa Dua Bali, UN Climate Change Conference 2007. Konferensi besar yang dihadiri lebih dari 10.000 peserta yang terdiri dari 189 negara, 20 kepala negara, 2.000 utusan delegasi PBB, 2.000 wartawan media massa, dan 6.000 peserta aktif. Adapun agenda utama pembahasan para delegasi meliputi empat hal, yakni masalah mitigasi, adaptasi, transfer of technology, dan finance investment.

Kerjasama internasional ini menjadi sebuah keharusan. Selain karena penyebab dan penderita dari perubahan musim ini adalah masyarakat global, juga dibutuhkan tindakan yang lebih sistemik dan menyeluruh dari semua penghuni bumi ini. Tetapi berpijak mutlak pada kerjasama internasional, tentunya bukan satu-satunya solusi. Apalagi bila menelaah lebih lanjut dari materi pembahasan yang hanya meliputi wilayah struktural. Perlu ada alternatif lain yang mesti dilakukan dalam menghadapi ancaman perubahan iklim.

Eco Theology

Seruan presiden SBY, seperti yang tertulis diawal tulisan ini, tentunya menjadi sesuatu yang sangat menarik. Agama merupakan dimensi kehidupan yang selama ini terlupakan dalam menyelesaikan problem lingkungan hidup.

Hal ini menjadi sangat lumrah dan dimaklumi. Karena pemahaman masyarakat umumnya sendiri tentang agama masih berkutat pada masalah ritualistik saja. Bagi beberapa kalangan menyebut istilah agama selalu diartikan sebagai penunjuk terhadap seperangkat ritual agama baik itu ibadah maupun perayaan hari-hari suci. Banyak masyarakat pemeluk agama, juga para pengkritik agama, melupakan bahwa agama merupakan lebih dari itu. Banyak makna terdalam kenapa agama sampai menjadi bagian yang sangat diperlukan bagi kehidupan manusia.

Setidaknya harapan Presiden SBY diatas menjadi dua hal yang berkaitan erat, pertama mengingatkan kembali kepada seluruh pemeluk agama pentingnya implikasi sosial dari setiap ketaatan terhadap ajaran-ajaran agama. Kedua, berkaitan dengan pemanasan global yang sedang mengancam kehidupan manusia, perlunya mengingatkan kembali akan pemahaman-pemahaman agama yang suitable dengan kerusakan alam.

Jika diasumsikan, gerakan pedagogi paling efektif bagi masyarakat agraris adalah internalisasi nilai-nilai agama, tidak salah untuk memformulasi paradigma teologi agama terhadap lingkungan. Apabila usaha perlindungan lingkungan dengan memberi status hutan lindung, taman hutan rakyat, dan taman nasional tidak mempan, kita butuh tambahan berupa pemahaman agama, teologis, yang bervisi lingkungan.

Pemahaman-pemahaman agama yang ramah lingkungan sendiri pada dasarnya bukan berarti tidak ada dalam setiap ajaran-ajaran agama. Eco theologies bukan merupakan hal yang baru dalam agama-agama di permukaan bumi ini. Problemnya adalah ketika terjadi over simplikasi dari setiap tindak keberagamaan kita. Agama sebatas dimaknai sebagai sebuah kegiatan ritual untuk memuja sang maha agung dan tidak mempunyai relevansi secara sosial. Hal ini tentunya mengingkari makna beragama sendiri yang menginstruksikan terbentuknya masyarakat yang adil dan sejahtera jauh dari segala macam gangguan kehidupan yang bermula dari nafsu sesaat.

Eco Thelogis Agama-agama

Dasar pemahaman teologi lingkungan adalah kesadaran bahwa krisis lingkungan tidak semata-mata masalah yang bersifat sekular, tetapi juga problem keagamaan yang akut karena berawal dari pemahaman agama yang keliru tentang kehidupan. Melalui teologi lingkungan, dilakukan kaji ulang terhadap pemahaman-pemahaman agama di tengah masyarakat, utamanya mengenai posisi manusia dan tanggung jawabnya berkaitan dengan alam yang didiaminya selama ini.

Melalui teologi lingkungan diungkap lebih lebih jujur dan semestinya relasi manusia dengan alam. Bila selama ini manusia dan lingkungan dianggap sebagai dua entitas yang berbeda dan berjauhan, melalui teologi lingkungan pemahaman itu diralat. Manusia dan alam merupakan dua entitas yang tidak dapat dipisahkan. Tidak ada posisi ordinat dan subordinat antar keduanya.

Pemahaman agama yang ”ramah lingkungan” ini sendiri pada dasarnya sudah terungkap dalam ajaran-ajaran agama. Dalam agama Kristen contohnya. Menurut Yongki Karman (Kompas, 23 November 2007), seorang Rohaniawan, teologi penciptaan dalam agama Kristen merupakan penegasan adanya tanggung jawab ekologis manusia. Penguasaan manusia atas bumi adalah agar alam dimanfaatkan untuk kesejahteraan manusia dan anak cucunya sehingga mendoong manusia untuk selalu bersyukur kepada Allah yang maha baik. Alam tidak diciptakan untuk memenuhi kerakusan manusia. Penguasaan atas alam terkait dengan menciptakan kesejahteraan yang berkelanjutan.

Pada akhirnya, menurut Yongki Karman, wujud penguasaan manusia atas alam bukan berarti menggunduli hutan, mengeruk pasir yang menimbulkan abrasi atau membuang sampah sembarangan. Memelihara bumi dan tidak merusak ekosistem adalah bukti penguasaan manusia atas alam. Dunia adalah tempat tinggal bersama dimana semua penghuninya hidup saling berkaitan satu sama lain.

Paul Haffner dalam Critique of Radical Green Spirituality (1996) menyatakan Kristianitas mengajarkan tidak hanya manusia, tetapi seluruh ciptaan Allah juga bernilai dan sebanding lurus dengan penghormatan kita atas ciptaan-Nya. Pengabaian atas status ciptaan Tuhan selain manusia menunjukkan watak kemunduran iman (decline of faith).

Hal senada diungkap juga dalam agama Islam. Menurut Sayyid Hussein Nasr, seorang filosof muslim dari Iran, Islam memiliki sesuatu yang disebut filosofi perennial (al-hikmah al-khalidah) tentang tatanan alam yang berhubungan secara religius dengan kehidupan manusia. Dalam risalah penaklukan Kota Mekkah (fathul Makkah), Nabi Muhammad dengan lantang melarang pasukannya menebang pohon sebagai bentuk show of force.

Dalam buku Man and Nature : Crisis of Modern Man, Nasr menyebutkan aspek teologis yang menjadikan manusia sebagai khalifah bukan berarti memiliki otoritas mutlak atas makhluk Allah yang lain, yakni lingkungan dan hewan. Kata khalifah sendiri mengacu kepada makna pemelihara alam (murabbi, concervatio) dan bukan bertindak sewenang-wenang atas alam.

Hassan Hanafi, filosof muslim dari Mesir, dalam karyanya Religion, Ideology, and Developmentalism (1990) menawarkan apa yang dikenal sebagai teologi untuk memperlakukan bumi. Bagaimana semestinya bumi ini diperlakukan?

Menurut Hanafi, bumi merupakan ciptaan Tuhan yang harus dikelola manusia secara baik dan benar. Tidak ada satu pun manusia yang sesungguhnya berhak mengklaim memiliki barang sejengkal pun terhadap bumi karena bumi ini adalah milik-Nya. Oleh karenanya, tidak dibenarkan jika ada manusia yang arogan ketika merasa memiliki tanah di bumi. Arogansi dalam pengertian, misalnya, ketika manusia merasa memiliki jengkal tanah di bumi, lalu dia berbuat seenaknya sendiri; mengebor, mengeruk, mengeksploitasi, tanpa memikirkan apa akibatnya. Juga arogansi seperti, oleh karena manusia hidup di alam dan lingkungan, lalu ia seenaknya mengotori dan mencemari alam dan lingkungan dengan polusi serta berbagai perbuatan lainnya yang sesungguhnya akan merusak bumi.

Di dalam ajaran Islam, dikenal juga dengan konsep yang berkaitan dengan penciptaan manusia dan alam semesta yakni konsep Khilafah dan Amanah. Konsep khilafah menyatakan bahwa manusia telah dipilih oleh Allah di muka bumi ini (khalifatullah fil'ardh). Sebagai wakil Allah, manusia wajib untuk bisa merepresentasikan dirinya sesuai dengan sifat-sifat Allah. Salah satu sifat Allah tentang alam adalah sebagai pemelihara atau penjaga alam (rabbul'alamin). Jadi sebagai wakil (khalifah) Allah di muka bumi, manusia harus aktif dan bertanggung jawab untuk menjaga bumi. Artinya, menjaga keberlangsungan fungsi bumi sebagai tempat kehidupan makhluk Allah termasuk manusia sekaligus menjaga keberlanjutan kehidupannya.

Sementara itu Chee Yoke Ling (1994) menemukan pemahaman yang tidak jauh berbeda dari berbagai agama yang ia kaji. Ajaran Taoisme menekankan konsep keselarasan dan kesempurnaan alam dalam memandang manusia dan alam sebagai suatu kesatuan. Hinduisme mengajarkan bahwa alam yang dianggap sebagai penjara manusia dapat dikalahkan melalaui pengetahuan tentang struktur alam bahkan dengan bantuan alam pula.

Dengan demikian lingkungan alam terikat erat dengan teknik spiritualnya, alam juga diposisikan sebagai guru yang dapat memperkaya manusia melalui kearifannya. Selanjutnya Nasrani menekankan ajarannya sebagai cinta kasih yang memberikan petunjuk bagi manusia dalam berinteraksi dengan sesama dan alam lingkungannya. Terbukti semua agama mendukung upaya pengelolaan lingkungan untuk kelestarian yang berkelanjutan.

Perusak hutan adalah pelanggar perintah tuhan.

James A Rimbach, seorang filsuf agama, pernah menyatakan ; “For theologians to address the issues of the ecology and environtment is typical ‘test case’ for doing thelogy today”. Dengan kata lain, teologi lingkungan menjadi semacam batu uji untuk mengukur tingkat keberagamaan dan keimanan semua orang yang merasa dirinya sebagai umat beragama.

Jika selama ini kita menganggap diri sebagai kaum beragama, sudah semestinya pemahaman agama kita tidak hanya cukup sampai pada keyakinan, namun tidak ada aktualisasinya dalam kehidupan. Sehingga, misalnya, kita mengaku bahwa kita orang beragama tapi perbuatan kita masih mencemari polusi udara, membuang sampah sembarangan, mengeksploitasi bumi secara semena-mena, dan sebagainya. Saatnya kita membuktikan keberagamaan kita dalam realitas dan praktek kehidupan sehari-hari. Agama yang mengajarkan kebaikan harus diaktualisasikan dalam kehidupan sehingga pada akhirnya kita akan dapat terhindar dari segala mara bahaya.

Selanjutnya mulai sekarang maukah kita menyatakan bahwa semua para pembalak hutan, penebang liar dan pelaku industri yang tidak mempunyai visi lingkungan hidup sebagai orang-orang fasik, kafir dan merupakan musuh bersama. Mereka adalah orang-orang yang tidak beragama yang mesti ditegur dan dihukum bersama-sama bukan hanya oleh pemerintah saja. Dajjal yang datang di akhir kehidupan manusia.

READ MORE - Eco-Theology ;

Independensi dan Variasi Orientasi...

Pagi ini jam 07 an saya jalan lewat wisma antara. Trus nyebrang arah monas dan belok kanan menuju arah kantor di medan merdeka barat. Di depan pintu masuk monas, sebrang kantor pusat Indosat, sudah ada mobilisasi massa dari Serikat Karyawan (Sekar) Telkom untuk demonstrasi. Isunya adalah penolakan serikat karyawan Telkom terhadap pembukaan kode akses SLJJ buat operator lain.

Saya tidak begitu tahu detail masalah pembukaan kode akses SLJJ apalagi motif mendasar demonstrasi Sekar Telkom apakah pesanan atau bukan, tapi dari spanduk yang dibentangkan jujur saja cukup membuat saya agak bergidik,tersentak dan miris. Selain tentang penolakan pembukaan kode akses SLJJ, tulisan spanduk demonstrasi Sekar Telkom menyebutkan tentang penyelematan aset negara yang tersisa di dunia telekomunikasi, menolak dominasi kepemilikan asing, keengganan menjadi babu negara-negara asing.

Miris karena sepertinya yang berjuang untuk membuat negeri ini lebih independen dari dominasi asing ternyata masyarakat kelas karyawan, selagi tuan mereka sedang menyusun strategi penjualan aset ke pemodal asing. Bergidik membayangkan apa yang diusahakan mereka, seperti terbiasa, akan terjegal oleh orang-orang yang semestinya mempunyai kewajiban lebih mempertahankan independensi negeri ini. Tersentak karena ternyata masih banyak kelompok masyarakat kita yang mempunyai rasa kepemilikan yang tinggi terhadap negeri ini.

Seperti yang ditunjukan oleh teks-teks dalam demonstrasi sekar Telkom, problem kita sekarang sepertinya adalah independesi dan keberanian. Minus independensi dan keberanian inilah yang menyebabkan terpilihnya pimpinan KPK dari para pelanggar hukum dan KPU yang tidak jelas kompetensi dan krediblitasnya. Lahir dari lobby politik karena ketakutan sehingga mengorbankan niatan awal memperbaiki keadaan.

Catatan yang menarik akan kita temukan bila sejenak kita melihat sepenggal perjalanan Indonesia. Indonesia awal pra dan pasca kemerdekaan, menurut catatan, hanya ditopang oleh sekitar 45 sarjana. Tetapi melalui 45 sarjana inilah kemudian Indonesia bisa lepas dari penjajahan dan melangkah lebih jauh dengan peran yang sangat signifikan bagi masyarakat dunia. Indonesia maju ke depan membangun poros alternatif di tengah konstelasi dunia yang sudah terblok sedemikian rupa oleh negara-negara adikuasa. Bahkan sampai sekarang jejak itu masih tersimpan dan menjadi pijakan gerak dunia internasional sampai sekarang.

Reputasi 45 sarjana itu pun, bila diukur dengan jenjang dan institusi pendidikan, masih kalah jauh dengan generasi sekarang. Soekarno adalah insinyur dari ITB pra kemerdekaan, pendidikan tinggi yang ketika itu tentunya masih tidak mempunyai reputasi apa-apa. Hatta mungkin dari Leiden University, the oldest university in netherland, tetapi gelar keserjanaanya tidak lebih dari seorang doktorandus. Sejawatnya sesama orang minang dan mahasiswa Leiden, Sjahrir, bahkan kuliahnya di Leiden University tidak sampai lulus alias drop out. Kekaguman akan kita temukan bila lebih lanjut kita lihat profil seperti Tan Malaka, M Natsir dll. Spirit belajar tinggi yang digabung dengan keberanian dan independensi telah meninggalkan jejak-jejak fundamental bagi Indonesia.

Indonesia sekarang adalah generasi-generasi yang dipenuhi oleh jutaan sarjana dalam dan luar negeri dengan strata yang complete. Tidak cukup dari itu, negeri ini juga telah dihiasi oleh perguruan tinggi - perguruan tinggi yang berada di setiap pelosok negeri. Tetapi sepertinya kondisi ini masih belum bisa membuat Indonesia lepas dari segala macam dominasi dan intervensi. Sesuatu yang terjadi karena minis sikap independensi dan keberanian. Hal ini juga lah, terutama yang terakhir, yang menjadi problem Presiden kita kali ini.

Kuasa Pengetahuan

Bagi Sujiwo Tedjo, seniman dari ITB, para penjajah memang sudah pergi dari bumi Indonesia juga negara-negara dunia ketiga lainnya. Tetapi mereka meninggalkan bank-bank sentral di setiap negara yang mereka tinggalkan. Melalui inilah kemudian kolonialisasi diteruskan sampai sekarang.

Pada sisi lain kuasa pengetahuan sepertinya menjadi sebuah variable yang mesti menjadi bahan perhatian. Pandangan pengetahuan sebagai sesuatu yang tidak steril dari kepentingan sepertinya sudah diterima banyak pihak. Pengetahuan sebagai bagian dari produksi kekuasaan pada akhirnya tidak urung menjadi bagian dari proses penguasaan juga. Pendidikan sebagai sebuah bagian untuk membebaskan, di banyak tempat menjadi sesuatu yang sangat sulit dilakukan ketika semua dilaksanakan sebagai bagian dari pelanggengan kekuasaan. Hal inilah yang dialami indonesia.

Indonesia, dalam satu kurun waktu yang sangat panjang, telah mengkiblatkan dirinya pada satu negara adikuasa dalam memperkaya pengetahuan melalui produksi kaum terpelajar. Amerika sudah lama menjadi tujuan pengembangan kemampuan intelektual bangsa Indonesia sampai sekarang. Pengiriman beribu-ribu sarjana yang berperstasi telah menjadi program kerjasama antar pemerintah.

Tidak ada yang salah dengan program ini, bahkan menjadi sesuatu yang mesti terus dilakukan. Problemnya adalah Amerika hanya menjadi satu tujuan, melupakan negara-negara lain yang memiliki potensi sama dalam pengembangan potensi intelektual bangsa Indonesia. Belajar dari Amerika dengan tradisi positivis-logis mesti lebih di perkaya dengan tradisi negara-negara Eropa yang sangat intens mengembangkan filsafat kritis, strukturalis (Jerman) post strukturalis, hermeneutika, fenomenologis (perancis) humanisme (Belanda) kajian ilmu agama yang mendalam (Mesir,Iran dan negara-negara Timur Tengah). Bila ini tidak dilakukan maka akan terjadi ketidakseimbangan dan Indonesia hanya berdiri pada satu titik yang siap didominasi dan di intervensi dalam setiap langkahnya.

Pada masa soekarno orientasi pendidikan Indonesia pada dasarnya sudah menawarkan variasi orientasi. Pengiriman pelajar-pelajar ke Amerika Latin seperti Kuba atau negara komunis sudah dimulai. Sayangnya karena paranoid, alih-alih langkah ini diperkaya orientasi pendidikan yang lebih bervariasi, yang sudah ada malah diberangus sedemikian rupa. Tidak cukup dengan penghapusan dan pelaranga, mahasiswa yang sedang belajar ke negeri-negeri komunis tidak dapat kembali dan yang kembali mendapat perlakuan yang tidak semestinya, bahkan tidak sedikit yang terbunuh.

So.. orientasi pembangunan pendidikan bangsa ini mesti bervariasi. Ketergantungan terhadap negara asing dalam pengembangan nalar pendidikan kita memang tidak bisa dihindarkan dan memang sebuah keharusan untuk belajar menembus lintas batas negeri. Tetapi menghindarkannya dari dominasi dan intervensi yang menyuburkan jiwa-jiwa minus independensi dan keberanian adalah sesuatu yang mesti dilakukan. Variasi orientasi pengetahuan adalah sebuah keharusan.

Jakarta, 07 Desember 2007

READ MORE - Independensi dan Variasi Orientasi...

Keseimbangan...

Keseimbangan adalah hakiki, keseimbangan adalah nurani, kebutuhan mendasar yang ada di setiap diri manusia. Tidak ada manusia yang tidak mengangankan keseimbangan. Ketidakseimbangan tidak hanya menimbulkan gangguan kepada diri sendiri, tetapi juga kepada orang sekeliling kita. Kebahagiaan hidup adalah ketika unsur keseimbangan terpenuhi di kehidupan kita.

Identitas yang diberikan Tuhan kepada kita adalah ummatan wasatha, umat yang selalu berada di pertengahan alias memperhatikan keseimbangan dalam kehidupan. Falsafah bersatunya tuhan dan manusia dalam diri, manunggaling kawula gusti kata orang Jawa, adalah bersemayamnya tuhan dan manusia dalam diri kita sehingga menjadi pertimbangan dalam setiap laku kita. Musik merupakan manifestasi sisi terdalam jiwa manusia berupa keseimbangan, sehingga kehidupan menjadi sangat ritmis dan bisa dinikmati.

Cita reformasi adalah terbentuknya tata sosial politik yang berkeadilan, pemimpin yang amanah dan masyarakat sejahtera sehingga menghasilkan kehidupan yang beradab. Cita reformasi itu tidak pernah terjadi karena mengabaikan keseimbangan Semua dilaksanakan serba berat sebelah dan tidak adil sehingga kehidupan yang berkeadaban masih jauh dari harapan.

Ajaran demokrasi dilaksanakan tidak seimbang, sehingga demokrasi hanya menjadi dalih untuk bebas berbicara apa saja, melupakan bahwa demokrasi mengajarkan manusia untuk senantiasa mendengar. Titik pelaksanaan demokrasi di eksplorasi sampai habis pada sisi prosedur, melupakan sisi substansi sebuah demokrasi.

Kembali kepada cita reformasi berarti menjalankan kehidupan yang seimbang. Kebiasaan berbicara mesti diimbangi dengan kebiasaan mendengarkan. Memerintah mesti diimbangi dengan mencontoh. Merencanakan mesti diimbangi dengan mengeksekusi. Bila ada reward berarti ada punishment. Berbicara mesti diimbangi dengan bekerja. Keadilan hukum mesti menjadi pijakan selain dari prosedur hukum.

Mungkinkah keseimbangan itu akan terlaksana?Tidak ada yang tidak mungkin. Syaratnya; selama nurani menjadi pijakan dan personal/groups interest tidak menginterupsi setiap kebijakan yang dibuat. Inilah yang menjadi kesulitan kita kali ini.

Jakarta, 03 Desember 2007

READ MORE - Keseimbangan...