“Education is not the filling of a pail, but it is the light of the fire”, a quote from William Butler Yeats, implies that education should not be brimming water in a bucket. It even should be able to light a candle to lighten its surrounding. It seems this quotation truly concerned with Indonesian education system. Does the education system refer to ‘fulfill the bucket’ or ‘lighten its surroundings’?

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According to the survey conducted by Political and Economic Risk Consultant (PERC), Indonesia is now on the 12th grade among the 12 countries that illustrate significant decline on education qualities in Asia. It, in fact, implies that there are still many severe problems among all educational elements of Indonesian educational system including the management, facilities and teachers.

Assumptions and controversies in relation to Educational background and Teachers’ Professional Certification program (Sertifikasi Guru) are said to be the major cause of it,

In fact, there are approximately 13,8% of 1.2 million teacher in elementary school who are not certified (Balitbang Depdiknas: 1998). It is believed that Indonesian teachers do not fulfill the standard of qualified teacher. As the consequence, there are still many teachers are unable to manage the class effectively, for instance, to organize the teaching planning, to evaluate, and to test their students.

Moreover, after the government regulated the additional salary as an award for qualified teacher, all teachers suddenly committed to fulfill all the administrative condition expecting that they will be awarded in spite of their unworthiness. In addition, there are some teachers’ assumed that teacher certification  is addressed to those who seek for prosperity, meanwhile, the aim of teacher certification program to encourage them to be professional teacher.

Furthermore, certification issues also effect on the increasing number of students’ training and teacher ship program (FKIP) in some universities. The teachers even manipulate this certification. This phenomenon might be the causes of unsuccessful teaching process.

There is even a rumor that teacher is an easy work. As can be seen from our society, many teachers only hand over the modules to the student and they think their tasks are finished.

To sum up, our government, ministry of education still has many works to resolve those problems. I state that this state, Indonesia, need many great program to develop our education, but we have to realize that it is not enough, there should any controls among those program, to see the program enforcement. Especially, when teacher national recruitment comes, government must take a qualified teacher only, which has great academic background, experiences and personality. In addition, providing scholarship programs to excellent student who wants to be a teacher will be very supportive.

By Taufik Akbar│Advisory Board in HEC

Facebookplaces in the highest rank of used by all people in this world. Therefore Facebook is a an effective media to use keeping in touch with family, friends who are far away, or finding new acquaintances. Inside Facebook world, many communities offer  varied kinds of activities, we can easily receive many updated information instantly. However, many disadvantages are delivered from this most popular social media.Considering the negative impact it brings, Republic of China has  banned the use of facebook in their internet service.One of the most negative one is prostitution.

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Recently, prostitution in Facebook becomes the hottest issue that world people talk about.Since Facebook has become worldwidely-known, bussiness of prostitution can be done internationally, no more borders that lie over the dangerous bussiness.

Prostitution is a crime, a sexual slavery, which can threat and bring citizens in Indonesia to access easily than before because it has spredover the Facebook rapidly. Quoted from Jakarta Globe.com, According to Police General Office in Jakarta, prostitution ring is offering sexual service to customers through the use of a Facebook fitures.  Almost of the perpetrators of this crime are acted by teenagers, not only as the perpetrators but also as the victims who can be trapped in this hazardous ring.Furthermore, police has arrested students, aged around 16 to 17 years that suspected as the victim who are persuaded to take part.The reason why this happens because the tendency of bad effect from Facebook, friends on Facebook who commit such a cursed business, one of the whorst of Facebook friendship can bring, let alone other crimes like drugs, human trafficking, child abuse, fraud, etc.

This case makes parents should feel worry because all children, especially those actively interacting with internet in their daily activities, can potentially experience the bad impact of the biggest social media around the world. So, parents have to keep themseleves  aware of  the risk from the internet prostitution through facebook and other social media and increase protection and supervision for their children using internet. This reality makes us realize that how dangerous Facebook can run young generation’s psychology and the way of their thinking from this prostitution ring. 

Written By Hartina Mahardika : Executive Board 

The issue of friction between Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and National Police (Polri) has been popped up (v. muncul) in this country lately through their action in condemnation (n. penersangkaan) of their masters each other. This issue has brought society to nationally pay heed (n. perhatian) on the two big law institution of this country, even being confused.

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All was started by the desicion of the president Joko (Jokowi) Widodo to appoint (n. pengangkatan) Gen. Budi Gunawan as a single candidate to replace Gen. Sutarman as The Chief of Polri. Before the House of Representative (DPR) legitimated (v. mengesahkan) Gunawan’s to be General Chief of Polri,KPK turned out to condemn him being involved in a graft (n. suap)case. Gunawan actually was red-highlighted by KPK beforehand in ministry selection process.

This condemnation made the President suspend (v. menunda) his inauguration due to the investigation of KPK to his case. In the other hand Polri eventually proceeded a handcuffing (n. penangkapan) to Bambang Widjayanto, Vice Chief of KPK as a report fromSugianto Sabran, a member of IndonesiaDemocratic Party – Struggle (PDI-P), with accusation for beinginvolved in a case of perjury (n. sumpah palsu) in a regional election dispute (n. sengketa) in 2010.

Obviously seen from the events happening above, KPK and Polri attacked each other in responding their master’s condemnation. This far the rest three chiefs of KPK have been reported to Polri with respective (adv. masing-masing) criminal case.

Responding to this case, President Jokowi had summoned (v. memanggil) both institutions’ leader, ministry of POLHUKAM to discuss about the matter of what really happens between KPK and National Police. After the meeting, Jokowi turned to give his remark (n. pernyataan)in the Bogor Palace.In the remarks he suggested both intitutions keep proceeding the recent case objectively and in line with regulation.

According to the former of Antigraft Watchdog Corruption Watch (ICW) Danang Widyoko, Jokowi was wrong to issue such equivocal (adj. klise) statement. The statement he said was reflecting his doubtedness (n. keragu-raguan) in making firm (adj. tegas) decision to resolve the case since his party was still behind him controlling.

As an institution in the first line of corruption eradication, KPK slowly losses its strength in its function. The conviction (n. penuduhan) of Polri to the four KPK commissioneries is considered to be a dilutoin (n. pelemahan) and an effort to criminalize KPK. Absolutely the effort successfully puts off (v. menunda) KPK investigation to allegedly bribed Kapolri candidate, Gen. Budi Gunawan.

The complicated conflict has made Jokowi formed Tim Sembilan which consists of experts of Indonesia governmetal figures to investigate the case and hoped to give recommendation of overcoming (v. mengatasi) the problem. This step of President even makes things worse because the role of board of advisor (Wantimpres) that he just formed lately is judged useless. At last, President puts himself in problematic position, whether following his party coalition’s will or public’s will.

Meanwhile (n. sementara itu) as Jokowi was in elusive (adj. sukar) condition, Jokowi tried to approach his political opponents, KIH, to cooperate in settling (v. mengatasi) the conflict. Jokowi asked for support from its leader as well as his ex-competitor in presidential election, Prabowo Subianto. The support he finally gained (v. dapatkan) from Prabowo has told Jokowi implicated his planning to get over with KIH, his present party coalition.

Above all, public still puts big hope in president’s shoulder to finish the conflict between KPK and Polri. It has given many impacts for governmental programs though, including in enforcing (v. menegakkan) the law of this country. Furthermore, society along this porgram has learned about the dynamic of recent Indonesia politic. So that, hopefully, public can transform into smarter watcher towards government agenda to create prosperous democracy country in the future.

Author: Muhammad Arham | Fajar Radio Announcer

In this globalization era, there has been a considerable number of major changes occurred in the social life of the entire Makassar community. As can be seen from the recent phenomenon, one of the changes is the isolation of traditional games such as dende’-dende’accangke’, ma’guli’, bekel, and mabbenteng from the local children due to the emergence of modern games. With regard to this issue, there have been many controversies from various critics and comments which demand further analysis and good discussions.

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Indeed, these traditional games are not isolated from the children completely. These traditional games might be found in rural areas and still played by many children. In contrast, the change that signifies the extinction of traditional games gradually has become evident in many Indonesian metropolitan cities including Makassar. The wide spreading of this extinction even gradually infected the children in rural areas. It seems that the children nowadays have more tendencies to play the modern games rather than to play the traditional ones.

In response to this alteration, the generations of 19s will absolutely consider this change very pathetic. They think that their willingness to restore the ancestors’ heritage including traditional games should be practiced by the children. Besides the cultural values, it is believed that the sense of exploration will be further developed through traditional games. Far more profound, these traditional games will develop the values of creativity, solidarity, cooperation and happiness because  unlike modern games, traditional games cannot be practiced by only one person. Therefore, they will be more consolidated as they become more frequent practicing the games.

According to a research, the extinction of traditional games is due to the deviant sub-cultural socialization. The parents as the first social agent, has no serious concern to introduce their children to the traditional games. Furthermore, they are introduced to modern games such as Angry Bird, Clash of Clans and other modern games. In broader sense, the government has very less concern to promote the traditional games. They only place emphasis on promoting traditional dances, traditional clothes and other cultural objects that are considered the more influential cultural value than the traditional games. Besides, the national development causes the decreasing number of playgrounds which in turn, will annihilate the practice of these traditional games. However, in spite of the unsupportive agents, there is still a certain community which has serious concern to keep the sustainability of Makassar traditional games such as MTGF (Makassar Traditional Game Festival) which is conducted once a year so as to attract various elements of Makassar society to participate in maintaining the traditional games.

Far more profound, the impacts of modern games become tangible and they can be identified through the behavior of young generation. Indeed, there have been a number of behavioral changes concerning the social awareness of the children. Modern games do not provide social consolidation to the children because unlike traditional games, the children become addicted to play it individually and it does not need other player to play with. Therefore, one manifestation of the practice of modern games is the loss of many cultural customs such as Tabe’(giving permission) among the children. However, still it is questionable and further research needs to be conducted to clarify this claim.   

Written By: Muhammad Afdal

Recently, the issue of synthetic rice has been a very popular issue among Indonesians. This issue of synthetic rice firstly emerged from Dewi Nurizza Septiani (29th), an entrepreneur in Mustikajaya, Bekasi.

She wrote on her Facebook that the rice was different from the previous rice that she bought. It seems to be mixed with plastic substance. She also spread the photos to her Instagram and reported to the radio in Bekasi.

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"I have spread the photos to my social media, Facebook and Instagram, and I have also reported it to the radio" she said in her eating house (May 19th, 2015).

It is believed that the synthetic rice is imported from China. According to Korean media, The Weekly Hong Kong, The rice was made of potatoes, yams and plastic and it is free to sell in the market. However, further inquiry should be taken to prove the validity of this news.

To confirm the issue of synthetic rice, Commerce Minister, Rachmat Gobel, stated that there was also a video in social media that illustrated the procedural steps on how to produce synthetic rice. In contrast, after being investigated, it is ,in fact, the procedure of producing plastic pellets.

In an event in Bekasi mayor’s office, Thursday (25/5), the head of Laboratory Testing Sucofindo, Adisam NZ, announced the results of two samples provided by Bekasi Commerce Department. It was discovered that the samples of rice are combined with polyvinyl chloride, a chemical substance commonly contained in plastic products such as cables, pipes pralon (PVC) and so on. The chloride mixture composition is as many as 6.76% of 250 grams after the identification.

Then, Andi Amran Sulaiman, Agriculture Minister, affirmed that the laboratory tests by the police, the Food and Drug Control Agency (BPOM), Ministry of Trade and Ministry of Agriculture denoted negative results of plastic substances from the rice samples. The samples were taken Laboratory Testing Sucofindo.

Furthermore, he pointed out that the trading of synthetic rice was unprofitable due to the expensive price. The price was approximately Rp.12,000 per kilogram, while the natural rice was Rp.7,300 per kilogram.

This argument was supported by Hasanudin Abdurakhman who led a Japanese company which manufacturesd plastic materials. He assumed that plastic rice was unreasonable in terms of production and economy.

" It will be very expensive because of the expensiveness of the raw material and the demand of high technology. Furthermore, plastic substances cannot be digested and it is easily tasted by the tongue" he said.

Although, the result from the laboratory tests of the police, the Food and Drug Control Agency (BPOM), Ministry of Trade and Ministry of Agriculture denoted negative results, this issue has remained a massive terror to Indonesians because the result from Laboratory Testing Sucofindo was positive and there has not been further clarification from Sucofindo untill now.

The ministry of agriculture affirmed that his office had conducted daily market check with respect to the issue post-haste.

"We have already checked markets, and the case is now in the hands of the police," he said.

Writer : Harmila S.S ( Internal HRD)

Infant formula is a manufactured food designed and marketed for feeding to babies and infants under 12 months of age, usually prepared for bottle-feeding or cup-feeding in form of powder (mixed with water) or liquid (with or without additional water) (wikipedia.com). Most of infant milk formula is made from cow’s milk which is enriched  by some important nutrition compounds to baby’s growth. However still many mothers are lack of information about the proper giving of this milk to the babies. This paper will explain why infant formula is not suitable and tends to give harmful impacts for the baby-under-12-months.

Infant formula becomes one of the alternatives of milk chosen by mothers to fulfill baby’s need of nutrition. In practical reason, a working mother chooses it to help her in balancing between working and feeding her baby. Looking for the best infant formula is being one of the priorities of parents in order to keep nourishing their baby. This formula promises the substantial nutrition for babies that can assist their growth and development in their early life. In the other hands, the babies consuming infant milk formula will grow as the “chubby baby”. The more chubby a baby, the more his mother is proud of him and the more satisfied she feels.The satisfaction comes upon them as the understanding of healthy baby is still measured by size of the baby. This assumption still remains until now.

The fact is the formula has the higher protein and other mineral contents than breast milks. Thus infant formula milk is rich of nutrient compound. Even so the milk will just be absorbed 15-20% in baby’s digestion. Different from breast milk that will be absorbed 100% in baby’s digestion.Therefore baby’s digestion system in their early life is not ready yet to effectively absorb any food except human milk.In addition infant formula milk contains high sweet that will make a baby consuming the formula have tendency of growing in obese.

Long-term effect will come to the baby who consumes infant milk formula. One of the effects is the rapid increasing of weight that will influence baby’s health in the future. According to Barker Theory, a baby who has a rapid increase weight in their childhood has higher risk of non-communicable disease in their adulthood such as coronary heart disease and diabetes mellitus. Another effect is the immunity of the baby  will be low if it compared with breastfeeding babies. Breast milk is a ‘live’ food that contains living cells, hormones, active enzymes, antibodies and at least 400 other unique components.

In conclusion, Infant milk formula is not suitable with baby’s digestion. Breast milk is the best solution for baby’s feeding and benefits baby health in the future because early nutrition and adult outcome are the pieces of the puzzle.

Written By: Fatwa Awaru | A Post-Graduate Student of Public Health
Picture : www.bbc.co.uk

Song is sounds which have a rhythm and a tempo and are performed by using music instruments. The types of songs vary for instance, jazz, classic, Mozart, Blues, Rock, Country, Dangdut and traditional song. Song cannot be separated from human life because it can express someone’s feeling. It can make people sad, happy and energetic. For children, song helps them to be more energetic and stimulate their brain to know word, music and art skill. In golden age, children usually study by music because child’s song has many educations in its lyrics that are easy to be understood by children. Nowadays, it is difficult to find children song or children singer in Indonesia. This paper will argue that Indonesia has lost child song because the music company only thinks about its profit. In addition, it should balance the number of adult and child song in the music world.

There are many lessons behind the children’s song. It is very important for parents to teach morality for their children. It is, however, quite difficult because moral education is boring and children’s mind cannot receive it. Through a simple song, parents can teach their children because children song is easy to be understood and memorized by children. Children can sing and learn in the same time through a song. By song, they will move around and clap hands enthusiastically. It helps them to be more active and energetic. It is unlike now where adult’s song more much than children’s song.

Nowadays Indonesia is dominated by Adult’s Song. It is difficult to find children song or children singer in Indonesia due to the domination of love and broken heart song. It is very contradictive with children world where there full of happiness and education. Although we find a child song he/she not looks like a child. A child singer sings a love song and dresses up same as adult. That is why Indonesian children especially in one to five years old usually sing unqualified songs such “Ayo goyang dumang”, “Pusing pala Barbie”and “Sakitnya tuhDisini”. It is impossible for parents to teach their children about morality through that song. It is irony because many people like to see their children sing that song. They think it is funny but they don’t realize that those songs give bad impact to their children. The music recorders also don’t think about the bad impact of that song to the children. They just think about how much money they can get by showing a child sings a love song.

However, in fact, music Companies only focus on big profit. Because the market of adult song is bigger than children’s song, so they change children become adult by singing adult’s song. That is why child looks not pure again as a child. The companies realize that they can get much profit by launching children singer because they will attract many young fans. In fact, children sing a song that it is not suitable with their age.

To sum up, children should sing a children’s song that full with spirit, happiness and education. Parent or candidates of parents we must be careful with the song. We must know how to teach the children through proper song.

Written by : Zakia Khyadhaniel Zaskia
Picture : www.youtube.com

Youth is synonymous with a key for a nation future. To whom the foundation of a state lays and is the future reflection of what country is. Therefore it is essential to care, to empower and to support them for country better future. Yet, it might just be realized by having strong optimism, trust and especially for the youths, they have to have sense of belonging to this country.

In average, youth rate of Indonesia is around 50% among age levels (BPS, 2014). It means Indonesia youths have great opportunities to contribute on country advancement in every important sector of social welfare . In some ways, a country must recognize the youth recent condition in terms of how their commitment to give contribution in country development.

In measuring how much youths want to give constructive impact to country, Ministry of Education of Singapore at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) 2013 held a youth annual event aiming at testing the teenagers’ awareness of the country’s condition in accord to improvement in the future. Mr Teo, the key note, asked any response by using their smartphone in thought about Singapore future. As the result, the survey proved that only 53% were optimistic for Singapore future and the other 62% were optimistic in their life. The result disappointingly concluded most youths in Singapore were less sense of belonging for their country. Beforehand , this event was to discuss the challenges of global issues such as a potential economic recession and trumping concerned over in Singapore. That was how Singapore government identify and enhance their youth awareness. Not only to get their success future career, government led them also to think how important they contribute to their country within their success so they can achieve both. “To discover for themselves that life is not an escalator; you actually have to work to make your country better, you have worked hard to make your life better,” Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean was quoted as saying.

The question now addressed to the countrymen of Indonesia is how to empower Indonesian youth to have sense of belonging to Indonesia. Indeed we need to do it for the growth of the youths is dynamic and the future of Indonesian youth does not only lay over their own hands but also in the participation of the stakeholders. Singapore has done a way of youth preparation for the country’s future since they realized to notice their future foundation as early. Therefore, based on this point, Indonesia needs to do by the same method of Singaporean or by another one.

This intent also assists Indonesia to concern highly to Indonesia international-graduated students. Government needs to accommodate them to serve their knowledge to Indonesia as well as to achieve their career. Indonesia definietely does not want to lose such a brilliant scholar like B.J Habibie, a statesman  and Indonesia former president, who drained his knowledge to Germany just because of Indonesia political system. Many other Habibies that this country must save. Habibie’s sense of belonging to Indonesia is no more doubtedly questionable. Only the morality of the government which tends to dirty politic for power, position, and money. Thus, from the very early, it is important to notice and understand how the sense of belonging of teenagers to Indonesia and its future and then to cultivate sense of belonging to Indonesia in their heart.

Written By: Taufik Akbar | English Teacher of A Public School
Picture : www.wikihow.com