Book Title: Kompensasi
Author: A. Mustofa Bisri
Publisher: Mata Air Publishing
Edition : February 2008
Volume : x+ 312 pages
Book reviewer : Ahmad Shiddiq Rokib
The motto in this book is written “You might meet four kinds of people: someone who knows and knows that he knows, then ask him; someone who knows and does not know that he knows, remind him; someone who does not know and knows that he does not know, teach him; and someone who does not know and does not know that he does not know, leave him”. We can reckon that it mirrors KH Mustofa Bisri’s (Gus Mus) anxiety toward social reality.&l<>t;br />
We can imagine, in the middle of this socio-political attack and economic pressure, Indonesians become more powerless. The people experience psychological shock, and the government is not sensitive to such tough condition. There are many not pro-people policies and people representatives are still far from expected.
A book entitled Kompensasi written by Gus Mus becomes a kind of ‘compensation’ for Indonesian people. Even though the term compensation becomes popular along with unpopular policy of refined fuel oil increasing price, its meaning is not that narrow, besides as a therapy for the government whose policies are, for many times, stuck in political pragmatism.
Reading this book, we can guess that with ibrah motto mentioned above; when there is a type of people who know that they know, ask him. We can understand this sentence, since Gus Mus himself, in his dakwah, is often asked for his opinion about daily problems, whether from ordinary people, leader, or ulema. But he still puts himself in a very modest portion, and does not make use of the honor he gets to gain benefits behind the people’s interest. By being silent does not mean that he does not care about the reality in which tyranny is everywhere.
Gus Mus deserves to be a reference for us to ask a question. The evidence about it is available in this book. He often reveals his opinion through media, and he does not hesitate to criticize the unwise government or becomes the partner of the people to share their sorrow through his writings. Possibly, it is influenced by his always-calm soul, full of knowledge and culture, which is embedded in his heart completing his polite attitude.
The next sentence, someone knows and he does not know that he knows, means that the government and people representatives have already known about the people’s fate of always being the victim of cruel policies, yet, they do not want to know about it. This phenomenon can be seen in “Kompensasi” . How infuriated Gus Mus knowing such policies. “Apparently, the executives and legislatives learn from the previous refined fuel oil increasing price, which was not followed by effective antipoverty programs and which widely influenced the people. The people’s burden becomes bigger along with the increasing price of basic needs. Even though they do learn, they do not come to the point of thinking the impact of such policies, mentally or physically, for example; a dependent culture, by making the people indolent to work and producing chaos among the receivers.
The third one, means the Indonesian citizens who do not know about what and how to be a nation and complete human beings. It is, obviously, because he is aware that he does not know. As an educated person, we can not fool them. Instead, we have to support them with education, understandings, and make them aware that they are human beings who deserve to get their rights.
At last, it will be troublesome when someone does not know and he does not know that he does not know. How could it be? It will explain it! It happens when the people, government, and ulema pretend not to know what to do for this nation and collective interest, although to do something for himself. Someone like this is pictured by Gus Mus in the writing entitled “Fenomena Ada Orang Berkepala Dua, Tikus Berkolusi dengan Kucing dan Sebagainya” (A Phenomenon of Someone who has Two Heads, Rats Cooperate with Cats and so on). They do not know what to do for themselves.
From the various kinds of person mentioned above, we may think about which kind of person we are. Do we belong to someone who knows and knows that he knows, or the second choice, someone who knows and does not know that he knows, or to be exact, pretend not to know. It does not matter if we belong to the third kind of person. Because someone who does not know and knows that he knows, there is still someone to remind us. But, being the fourth person is so naive. He does not know and he does not know that he does not know, and no one would remind us, because they know that we are useless.
Therefore, it is important to read this book. To simply know how people get connected to ulema, people, and even the style of the government in leading people. It deserves to be our reference to face a better future. If only there is a weakness in this book, it is on the writing sources which do not mention where and when the writings published or presented. But it does not reduce the substance of fresh ideas of this Raudhotul Tholibin Pesantren (Islamic Boarding School) leader who is also an NU cultural observer. There are few people like Gus Mus, who able to explore their feelings without anyone gets hurt. The interesting point of this book is it is written in his special style.
This book becomes a ‘compensation’ to Gus Mus, Indonesian people, and government. As well as a gift for this nation, that experiences degradation in this transitional era.
The book reviewer is a student of Luhur Husna Islamic Boarding School and is active in Pena Pesantren. (ay)
Author: A. Mustofa Bisri
Publisher: Mata Air Publishing
Edition : February 2008
Volume : x+ 312 pages
Book reviewer : Ahmad Shiddiq Rokib
The motto in this book is written “You might meet four kinds of people: someone who knows and knows that he knows, then ask him; someone who knows and does not know that he knows, remind him; someone who does not know and knows that he does not know, teach him; and someone who does not know and does not know that he does not know, leave him”. We can reckon that it mirrors KH Mustofa Bisri’s (Gus Mus) anxiety toward social reality.&l<>t;br />
We can imagine, in the middle of this socio-political attack and economic pressure, Indonesians become more powerless. The people experience psychological shock, and the government is not sensitive to such tough condition. There are many not pro-people policies and people representatives are still far from expected.
A book entitled Kompensasi written by Gus Mus becomes a kind of ‘compensation’ for Indonesian people. Even though the term compensation becomes popular along with unpopular policy of refined fuel oil increasing price, its meaning is not that narrow, besides as a therapy for the government whose policies are, for many times, stuck in political pragmatism.
Reading this book, we can guess that with ibrah motto mentioned above; when there is a type of people who know that they know, ask him. We can understand this sentence, since Gus Mus himself, in his dakwah, is often asked for his opinion about daily problems, whether from ordinary people, leader, or ulema. But he still puts himself in a very modest portion, and does not make use of the honor he gets to gain benefits behind the people’s interest. By being silent does not mean that he does not care about the reality in which tyranny is everywhere.
Gus Mus deserves to be a reference for us to ask a question. The evidence about it is available in this book. He often reveals his opinion through media, and he does not hesitate to criticize the unwise government or becomes the partner of the people to share their sorrow through his writings. Possibly, it is influenced by his always-calm soul, full of knowledge and culture, which is embedded in his heart completing his polite attitude.
The next sentence, someone knows and he does not know that he knows, means that the government and people representatives have already known about the people’s fate of always being the victim of cruel policies, yet, they do not want to know about it. This phenomenon can be seen in “Kompensasi” . How infuriated Gus Mus knowing such policies. “Apparently, the executives and legislatives learn from the previous refined fuel oil increasing price, which was not followed by effective antipoverty programs and which widely influenced the people. The people’s burden becomes bigger along with the increasing price of basic needs. Even though they do learn, they do not come to the point of thinking the impact of such policies, mentally or physically, for example; a dependent culture, by making the people indolent to work and producing chaos among the receivers.
The third one, means the Indonesian citizens who do not know about what and how to be a nation and complete human beings. It is, obviously, because he is aware that he does not know. As an educated person, we can not fool them. Instead, we have to support them with education, understandings, and make them aware that they are human beings who deserve to get their rights.
At last, it will be troublesome when someone does not know and he does not know that he does not know. How could it be? It will explain it! It happens when the people, government, and ulema pretend not to know what to do for this nation and collective interest, although to do something for himself. Someone like this is pictured by Gus Mus in the writing entitled “Fenomena Ada Orang Berkepala Dua, Tikus Berkolusi dengan Kucing dan Sebagainya” (A Phenomenon of Someone who has Two Heads, Rats Cooperate with Cats and so on). They do not know what to do for themselves.
From the various kinds of person mentioned above, we may think about which kind of person we are. Do we belong to someone who knows and knows that he knows, or the second choice, someone who knows and does not know that he knows, or to be exact, pretend not to know. It does not matter if we belong to the third kind of person. Because someone who does not know and knows that he knows, there is still someone to remind us. But, being the fourth person is so naive. He does not know and he does not know that he does not know, and no one would remind us, because they know that we are useless.
Therefore, it is important to read this book. To simply know how people get connected to ulema, people, and even the style of the government in leading people. It deserves to be our reference to face a better future. If only there is a weakness in this book, it is on the writing sources which do not mention where and when the writings published or presented. But it does not reduce the substance of fresh ideas of this Raudhotul Tholibin Pesantren (Islamic Boarding School) leader who is also an NU cultural observer. There are few people like Gus Mus, who able to explore their feelings without anyone gets hurt. The interesting point of this book is it is written in his special style.
This book becomes a ‘compensation’ to Gus Mus, Indonesian people, and government. As well as a gift for this nation, that experiences degradation in this transitional era.
The book reviewer is a student of Luhur Husna Islamic Boarding School and is active in Pena Pesantren. (ay)
