DONALD HAROMUNTHE

Kopi Tubruk Pak Heru

If today you are staying and have an ID card as a citizen of Jakarta, this is a good time to see so many changes in this capital. Among many things, one that impress me much is a recent news on provincial minimum salary or well known as UMP. It’s just been officially signed that by the next year, laborers will deserve a minimum wage at 3.1 million rupiahs per month.

Probably, after some insurance and medical cost, a labor will go home happily when the salary day comes. I can imagine what the face will be like when telling his/her children that they will no more need to feel ashamed going to school just because they don’t have a new shoe.

I am not overrating.

For most families, an increase from 2.7 million to 3.1 million rupiahs is a big news. It takes four red paper money in hand. Each red paper nominaled by “seratus ribu”, and every “seratus ribu” is a very very expensive thing, nearly like a diamond for a beggar family staying under the bridge with river flowing and bring stingy things with it night and day.

Well … this will be a good time to make a bit flashback on what salary means for a living. For some, its change maybe just a matter of additional budgeted spent when shopping in malls or hanging out with friends, but to many other, it is as large as their whole living.

And today I’ve just found a very interesting writing from Sendy Filemon, the CEO of the Digital Financial Services KreditGoGo.com. What astonished me is that he looks like not forgetting the poor. He even knows and understand earnestly on the gap of these people living in this country, or this capital to be more specific.

I can not make a resume, so I decide to quote full of his elaboration here so you may get the whole of his perspective.

His ideas are response to the question in Quora, “Why does salary in Indonesia and Jakarta so low“? and he put the bullets straght at the rotten heart of this civilization. Am I overrating it? Perhaps. I myself assume that I did, but after reading his answer below, I can not stop reading and nodding (without unnecessary amen, of course).

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This goes back to when Indonesian was occupied by VOC or the Netherlands.

At the time, the Dutch need cheap laborers to work on the plantations and trading route. So they need to pay these people (slavery is sub-optimal since you degrade the dignity of both the supervisor and the victims) but you want to pay them so low that it will only feed them for that day and thus forcing them back to work the next day.

Another reason is political. To better control the majority of native indonesian, the dutch encourage a 3 tier society, where the europeans are at the top, chinese arabs and indians are in the middle, and native indonesian at the bottom. One way to make this happen is by limiting access to public service, another is income.

Now, during the independence, the cost structure of the government basically follows that of the dutch, with very low paid native civil cervants.

The nation leaders saw that it’s good to keep this system because they didn’t have a lot of money to pay civil servants when the country was just passing its independence and remember as a nation, Indonesia has been in a captive mindset for hundreds of years (either captive to the dutch or their local rulers), so they are used to a hand-to-mouth existence.

The traders, merchants, landowner and industrial class was also in the same mood, i’ve paid my workers pitiful salary yesterday why should i change now.

So that’s the historical background on why indonesian salary is so low.

And by the way, in addition to the captive mindset, the education, initiative, and productity level of the workers would discourage anyone from paying them european labor worker’s salary.

And from Independece, for decades Indonesian has been without a middle class. A middle class meaning people are educated and can reliably represent the owners interest in a company.

I think that up to the 1980s, there still a lack of middle class in Indonesia. There are basically 4 class of society: low level government official who has no access to corruption and stay poor, laborers and farmers who stay poor, government official who learn to compensate their meager salary with massive corruption, and private company owners. Managers are rare since most company are managed directly by the owners.

When more people become managers in the 1990s, this pattern of paying meager salary for indonesian continues.

But it give rise to rampant corruption in all sector of society, if in the 1960 and 1970s it was government officials who learn to corrupt, then it was private managers who then learn, but by more subtle means that government officials.

Some old money families I met manage by this creed “whether I give people low salary or high salary, people will steal. So I let them have low salary”.

In more modern times, this pattern continues.

For example, Jakarta has a city budget of US$ 5 billion, more than many top companies in Indonesia. Do you know that the official salary of Jakarta governor is less than $1,000 per month? Then what did his predecessor do?
a. They create a lot of non-salary official payments, fees for attending meetings, fees for sitting on a chair (they created a lot of chair), incentives from tax collection
b. They create a lot of “opportunity”. As a resident of Jakarta, I would estimate that at least half of the city non-employee budget is wasted on corruption. How do i know? The speed and quality of contruction being done now. Just around my house the city is revamping cannal walls with concrete, creating large drain trenches, and this is done in many parts of the city. I cannot help but wonder, the city had the money to do this in the previous governor’s terms, where did that money go?

Now, there are efforts to move Indonesian government salary to the Singaporean standard (i.e. Pay international market rate for government official and civil servant but zero tolerance for corruption and silly fees), but nooo, many Indonesians, especially old and powerful ones are just to use to having a corruptible system. For government official it presents massive upside, for businessman it provides a way to skirt regulation or change regulation per their business interest.

So why is Indonesia salary so low?
1. Historical reason of creating a hand-to-mouth existence for laborer that still continues to this day
2. The low productivity and skill of laborer (could be related or encouraged by the above).
3. A mindset of that expects and perpetuates corruption as means to cover for legitimate income, both in government and private sector.

Some negative comments arrive, saying that Sendy’s answer is negative, and then he argue furthermore.

Fact. It is fact that the minimum salary in Indonesia capital is less than $200 per month, it is fact that fresh undergraduate can earn less than $200 per month. It is fact than Indonesian civil servants is paid very low salary. It is fact that although there are people being paid high salary in Indonesia, most of them are in Jakarta (most likely middle class worker with time to read this answer) and doesn’t represent 1% of the total population. It is fact that I met very wealthy individuals who agrees that they are not providing living wages for their laborer and an income that doesn’t match their managers lifestyle and they don’t care how these people make up the difference.

I am Indonesian. I don’t like how poorly people is paid, someone ask why? i gave them an answer that provides a historical and contemporary background.

Look around you. Look how miserable other people are living their lives. These people are not reading Quora. They are busy trying to make ends meet for tomorrow. There are tens of millions of Indonesian facing this. But I am aware that there are people making very good wages. I am proud to say I am one of them. I am proud because I exercise a lot of effort to be where I am. But I am also aware that if the lottery of birth put me two houses down the road, I could be living minimum wage.

So if someone ask about “why Indonesian salary is so low?” Should I base my answer on the privilege indonesians that have sufficient English to interact in Quora or the tens of millions who are voiceless, downtrodden by a system that exist for hundreds of years with no one asking why the system exist, and are there often by not their own choice?

Jakarta, and Indonesia salary is so low due to a mix of history, convenience, and productivity issues.

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Among others, social welfare will always practically based on the increase number of the salary year by year. Dominated by labor worker on work-age population, people will highly value any governmental initiative to concretely set bigger amount on their take home pay account. Not to mention some objections by the employers or company owners, this is a real task, probably a sacred duty for the president and related ministers.

 

As for me, this answer needs no further explanation.

I just want to add another tiny (but maybe mighty) point that – in my point of view – contributes to make the low salary last very long.

As an Indonesian, more honest introspection will be a big help.
Yes, the salary is still low. Eventhough, there seems a slow but sure movement from a so-called middle class to earn and spent more money and investments.

But, as a whole, talking about two hundred and fifity four million people inhabiting Indonesia as its citizen, none will deny the fact that those main factors (colonialization, averagely ow productivity skill, and a tend-to-corrput mindset) still continue and infiltrate into almost every economical sources.

The sad thing is that it is made even worse when a big number of people are busy making things out of control in terms of so many conflicts based on racism and religious interest. Instead of accelerating to master necessary skill as labors, most workers in Indonesia spent times only by chitchatting and jabbering online.
Averagely Indonesian adults make it 9 hours a day in internet things.

 

Hari-hari ini wacana tentang Surat Edaran Kapolri tentang Hate Speech (Ujaran Kebencian) semakin luas dibicarakan, baik di media massa, media sosial lain yang lebih luas jangkauannya seperti Facebook dan Twitter, bahkan dalam perbincangan sehari-hari seperti yang saya alami bersama teman-teman di tempat kerja tadi siang.

Dan pembicaraan kami pun melebar kemana-mana. Awalnya hanya mencoba mencari-cari kira-kira bagaimana “berita” tentang hate speech ini dimengerti oleh berbagai lintas generasi. (Saya beri tanda kutip karena sesungguhnya keprihatinan serupa bukan barang baru lagi).

Kami pun mulai mencari beberapa statement yang cukup iconic dan dikonsumsi oleh berbagai kalangan umur.

“I miss you but I hate you” kata Slank. Dengan jumlah penggemar yang jutaan di Indonesia, (belakangan bahkan pak Presiden Jokowi pun tampaknya ikut dalam barisan ini pada kampanye pilpres lalu), lirik lagu ini cukup populer. Tapi popularitasnya tidak mengandung tendensi atau konten yang bisa disalahartikan. A song as a song. Hanya ungkapan romantisme dalam dinamika asmara orang-orang yang mencari cinta.

“I hate that I love you“, kata “jomblo ngenes” yang tidak terima mantannya memilih orang lain. Yang ini malah mendapat rating yang terus menaik. Kendatipun, tema ini lebih akrab bagi anak remaja dengan segala ke-“alay”-an mereka.

“I love the way you lie“, begitu penggalan lirik lagu yg dilantunkan Rihanna.

Bagi penggemar diva Rihanna, penggalan lirik lagunya ini dikutip jutaan kali. Liriknya membantu mereka mengungkapkan suatu paradoks sederhana bahwa:

“Orang-orang ternyata bisa membenci diri sendiri karena tidak membohongi perasaan cinta kepada orang yang dia telah membohonginya berkali-kali”

Saya penasaran, apakah perasaan yang sama dimiliki oleh seorang pemilih aktif terhadap wakil rakyat di DPR yang dulu didukungnya. Soalnya, yang terakhir ini kerap menebar janji kampanye manis. Tapi lebih sering tidak lebih dari kebohongan belaka ketika mereka sudah merasakan empuknya kursi di Senayan.

Sampai disini, “hate” (benci, kebencian) dan “love” (cinta, sayang; antitesis dari kebencian) hanya paradoks yang bisa diterima oleh manusia dalam hubungan horisontal dengan sesama lainnya dalam kehidupan keseharian. Indikasi masalah mulai muncul ketika lingkaran orang-orang yang terlibat itu meluas. Terutama ketika ketika “hate speech” menjadi isu nasional, terutama di negeri dengan 254 juta penduduk ini, wanti-wanti saja, perlu upaya lebih serius untuk mensosialisasikan A-Z dari Surat Edaran ini.

Mengapa? Karena demografi Indonesia ternyata memang membentang sangat luas. Lebih luas dari yang mungkin menjadi patokan bersama dalam kelompok tertentu.

Begitulah intisari pembicaraan kami siang tadi.

Ngelantur? Iya. Dan ngelantur ternyata tidak selamanya buruk. Setidaknya, ada satu premis yang kami bicarakan tampaknya dimafhumi secara luas, dan semakin jelas buat saya, yakni bahwa:

relatifitas tolok ukur seruan kebencian atau kritik itu ternyata sering kali membentang begitu luas.

Tapi, bukankah tolok ukur harusnya tidak relatif? Sebaiknya memang tidak. Dan seperti biasa das sollen dan das sein lebih sering berjalan tidak seiring. Dewasa ini, di negeri ini, bahkan semakin sering. Mutlak perlu pengertian yang benar untuk meletakkannya hanya sebagai seruan saja, jangan sampai menyasar kebebasan media massa seperti ditulis di portal berita detik.com.

Oleh karena itu, beberapa hal berikut pantas mendapat perhatian penting jika kita tidak ingin surat edaran tentang ujaran kebencian ini

Pertama, masyarakat yang masih gamang dengan kenyataan keberagamannya.

Kritik yang bagi sebagian orang dimaksudkan sebagai humor atau jenaka sajapun, ternyata bisa dipelintir dan dituduh sebagai ungkapan penghinaan terhadap SARA (Suku, Agama, Ras, dan Antar Golongan).

Bagaimana tidak. Hingga hari ini, fanatisme dan radikalisme, terutama yang mengatas-namakan agama, masih saja memperburuk citra Indonesia sebagai negara yang majemuk. Konon orang Indonesia, terutama ketika menerangkan seperti apa itu ke Indonesia kepada orang luar, akan dengan bangga menyatakan bahwa rakyatnya sangat menjunjung tinggi keberagaman. Padahal fakta di depan mata membuktikan sebaliknya. Kekerasan dan intoleransi yang dipupuk oleh sistem yang seakan mengabaikannya menjadi preseden buruk kita hingga generasi ini.

Entah karena kurangnya law enforcement terhadap pelaku intoleransi dan kekerasan yang membawa label agama dan etnisitas tertentu, ataupun karena kurangnya akses terhadap pendidikan yang setali tiga uang dengannya, tapi fakta yang kita temui di lapangan memang sangat menyedihkan. Sebuah laporan menyebutkan dari situs fica, misalnya, menyebutkan bahwa dari tahun 1945 hingga 1997 saja sudah terjadi pembakaran atas 374 gereja di berbagai pelosok nusantara. Sebuah kentras yang menohok ke jantung kebanggaan kita sebagai bangsa yang katanya bangga dengan segala kemajemukannya.

Kedua, merujuk pada pendapat banyak ahli dan pengamat, tatanan demokrasi kita masih dalam proses pencarian yang panjang untuk mencari-cari bentuknya yang tepat. Bagaimana tidak, bahkan gelombang besar animo sekelompok masyarakat bahkan tanpa malu ingin mencari bentuk pemerintahan khilafah yang jelas-jelas bertentangan dengan gagasan dasar pendiri negeri ini.

Ketiga, secara khusus bagi dunia jurnalisme (baik media massa maupun citizen journalism), efek dari pemberlakuan SE ini bisa kebablasan sehingga sebagian orang akan melihat bahwa bukan tidak mungkin seruan ini menjadi alat legalisasi pemusnahan terhadap golongan minoritas atau kaum powerless. Oleh siapa? Tentu saja, bagi golongan mayoritas atau kaum pemilik power (kuasa) yang lebih besar.

Apakah ini antisipasi yang prematur? Iya. Kelewat prematur? Mungkin saja.

Tapi lepas dari posisi SE dalam hirarki perundang-undangan di Indonesia hanya sebagai surat edaran dan bukan UU, ternyata efek dari SE ini bisa jauh lebih dahsyat dari yang kita bayangkan.

Ketika saya kemudian men-share opini dengan mengutip penuh artikel saya tentang tema yang sama di sebuah media sosial, seorang teman langsung memberi tanggapan begini:

“Couldn’t agree more pak. Semestinya memang perlu di kaji lagi kepentingan SE ini, kalau hanya merugikan pers misalnya buat apa, bisa2 ketika pers secara gamblang mengungkap fakta malah disalah artikan sementara pers ibarat suara rakyat bukan kelompok, atau klo saya blng saya benci dengan Bapak, misalnya, bisa2 saya masuk bui. SE ini prematur, kalopun hanya ingin lebih bertindak tegas kita udh ada uu elektronik toh, tinggal di maksimalkan aja jika mengacu pada ujaran kebencian/hasutan di sosmed. Dan pada akhirnya SE ini hanya menguntungkan segelintir tikus2 yg haus akan perlindungan dri jeratan hate speech tsb. So weird”

Komentar lain menyebut:

“Yup. Sepakat. karena sejarah sudah membuktikan”

Yang lain lagi, menusuk pada kepicikan religius masyarakat, menyebut:

Yang paling membingungkan dari soal ujaran kebencian adalah seandainya ada orang yang mengutip kitab suci agamanya yang ayatnya berisi ujaran kebencian
kepada suatu kaum.

Siapa yang harus ditangkap dan dimintai pertanggungjawaban? Tidak mungkin pengarangnya/penulisnya dimintai pertanggungjawaban. Kalau yang mengutip ditangkap dengan mudah dia berdalih hanya sedang beribadah mempraktekkan ayat agamanya.

Bahkan, tak lama kegelisahan yang sama pun dirasakan oleh komentator lain dan tampaknya beliau begitu bersemangat sehingga ingin mendaftarnya dalam daftar antrian petisi di change.org mengikuti tren yang dewasa ini semakin efektif untuk menciptakan viralitas dari suatu gagasan atau keprihatinan.

“Petisi mana petisi?

*Catatan dari Penulis.
Oh iya. Ini adalah kritik tanpa endorsement dari pihak manapun. Murni pendapat pribadi saya. Mudah-mudahan ini pun tidak dianggap sebagai ujaran kebencian. Karena kalau sampai begitu, yah, komentar saya hanya begini.

In the era of so widely-spread source on check and re-checking e-mails, today, Nov 3th 2015, I still found that trials do never surrender attacking me. Yep, that trial is phishing.

I open my e-mails and I just know it when I see it. This is not the first time, though. Many times before I received similar e-mail that convince me to do a little favor to the sender, who, as always been, placed him/herself as a victim of some injustice, family quarrellings or war.

This one interested me because she used e-mail with an Russian website domain, i.e. Rambler.ru.

Here the email goes …

 

Kepala Polisi RI Jenderal Badrodin Haiti mengeluarkan Surat Edaran (SE) Kapolri SE/6/X/2015 tentang Penanganan Ujaran Kebencian atau Hate Speech pada 8 Oktober lalu dan dikirim ke kepolisian sektor dan resor di seluruh pelosok tanah air.

SE ini ditanggapi beragam oleh berbagai lapisan. Bahkan rentan menjadi sangat multitafsir karena bahkan distingsi antara hate speech dan beropini pun sedemikian mudahnya dipelintir. Orang Indonesia umumnya sangat terbiasa (mungkin karena latar belakang pemahaman akan sejarah yang kerap diputarbalikkan demi kepentingan penguasa). Tidak heran, ungkapan “Money Talks” atau ‘wani piro” menjadi sangat lazim, baik dalam teori maupun praktik. “Kelaziman” ini kerap ditemui, lebih dari seharusnya.

Namun, sebelum melangkah dan bereaksi lebih jauh, kiranya perlu mengetahui bagaimana kedudukan SE dalam tata urutan perundang-undangan di Indonesia. SE masuk kategori peraturan negara (staatsregelings) namun bukanlah peraturan perundang-undangan (wettelijk regeling).

Peraturan negara sebagai peraturan-peraturan tertulis yang diterbitkan oleh instansi resmi (lembaga maupun pejabat tertentu) dapat dibagi 3 kelompok.

1. Peraturan perundang-undangan seperti UUD, UU, PP, Perpres, Permen, Perda, dan lain-lain

2. Peraturan kebijakan (beleidsregels) seperti instruksi, surat edaran, pengumuman, dan lain-lain

3. Penetapan (beschikking) seperti surat keputusan dan lain-lain.

Oleh karena itu, peraturan kebijakan seperti SE Kapolri ini memiliki ciri-ciri yang penting diperhatikan.

Pertama, dibentuk oleh badan/pejabat administrasi negara yang pelaksanaan wewenang tersebut tidak didasarkan menurut kewenangan peraturan perundang-undangan (baik atribusi maupun delegasi) tetapi didasarkan pada azas kebebasan bertindak.  Pelaksanaan kebijakan tersebut tidak dituangkan dalam bentuk peraturan perundang-undangan dikarenakan pembuatnya tidak mempunyai kewenangan peraturan perundang-undangan (baik atribusi maupun delegasi). Kewenangan yang dimiliki hanya dibatasi pada segi-segi pelaksanaan dan tidak ada kewenangan mengatur (wetgever).

Kedua, isi peraturan kebijakan pada dasarnya ditujukan dan berlaku bagi pembuat peraturan kebijakan itu sendiri atau dibuat dan berlaku bagi badan atau pejabat administrasi yang menjadi bawahan pembuat peraturan kebijakan. Jadi yang pertama-tama melaksanakan ketentuan dalam peraturan kebijakan adalah badan atau pejabat administrasi negara, meskipun ketentuan tersebut secara tidak langsung akan dapat mengenai masyarakat umum.

Ketiga, secara substantif berbagai bentuk peraturan kebijakan dapat berisi pedoman, petunjuk pelaksanaan, petunjuk teknis atau lainya. Sebagai akibat peraturan kebijakan yang bukan peraturan perundang-undangan, maka peraturan kebijakan tidak secara langsung mengikat secara hukum tetapi mengandung relevansi hukum yaitu yang pertama-tama harus melaksanakan ketentuan dalam SE adalah badan atau pejabat administrasi negara.  SE sebagai peraturan kebijakan dibenarkan sepanjang mengatur pejabat dan badan pembuat SE sendiri atau mengatur bawahan dari pejabat pembuat SE.

SE bukan kategori peraturan perundang-undangan sehingga  tidak layak mengatur masyarakat umum.  Yang boleh mengatur masyarakat umum adalah peraturan perundang-undangan yang hakikatnya merupakan kewenangan lembaga legislatif dan badan eksekutif yang mendapat pelimpahan untuk mengatur dari badan legislatif.

Contoh kasus dimana SE dibatalkan ialah ketika putusan judicial review Nomor 23P/HUM/2009, MA membatalkan SE Dirjen Minerba dan Panas Bumi No 03.E/31/DJB/2009 tentang Perizinan Pertambangan Mineral dan Batubara sebelum terbitnya Perppu No 4 Tahun 2009.

Maka, jika berkaca pada pemahaman ini, tujuan SE Kapolri sebenarnya ditujukan untuk internal kepolisian atau bawahan Kapolri agar memiliki pemahaman yang sama terkait bentuk ujaran kebencian, aspek ujaran kebencian, media ujaran kebencian, dan prosedur penanganan dalam hal terjadi perkara ujaran kebencian.

SE ini tidak bisa dijadikan dasar pemidanaan mengingat hanya mengatur prosedur penanganan perkara di internal kepolisian. Untuk menjerat pelaku ujaran kebencian dan memberikan hukuman bagi mereka tentu harus berdasarkan UU yang berlaku apakah itu KUHP atau UU ITE.

Rentan Salah Sasaran

Meskipun demikian ketentuan ini secara tidak langsung akan mengenai masyarakat umum. Karena berdampak bagi masyarakat umum maka untuk itu tetap perlu diperhatikan beberapa asas dalam pembentukan SE yaitu asas-asas umum pemerintahan yang baik seperti kepastian hukum, kemanfaatan, kecermatan, kepentingan umum, dan sebagainya.

Ini yang mungkin menjadi keprihatinan Ketua Dewan Pers Bagir Manan yang sejak awal mewanti-wanti supaya ini tidak menjadi undang-undang karet. Ketua Dewan Pers Bagir Manan mengaku tak sepakat dengan Surat Edaran Kapolri tentang Penanganan Ujaran Kebencian atau Hate Speech. Menurut Bagir, surat edaran tersebut justru membangkitkan pasal karet yang dulu telah ada pada zaman Belanda. “Dulu pelajaran hukum Belanda ada pasal sebarkan kebecian. Pasal-pasal itu sangat kolonial dan yang paling korban adalah pers,” kata Bagir.

Penguasa membungkam suara rakyat?
Dalam pengertian yang lebih luas, jika menyasar pada masyarakat umum, SE ini dikhawatirkan bisa menjadi simbol ketakutan akut pemerintah terhadap kebebasan berbicara rakyat atau simbol diplomasi elegan penuh kebusuhan versus bicara blak-blakan.

Burhanuddin Muhtadi, seorang pengamat politik dan ahli survey, misalnya menyebut di twit-nya, 2 November:

“Yg saya khawatirkan adalah hate speech thd kaum minoritas dibiarkan, sedangkan kritik thd otoritas kekuasaan dimasukkan sbg ujaran kebencian”

Jika ini sampai terjadi, maka orang-orang bijak di negeri ini mestinya tidak akan diam saja. Selain bersuara di balik tinta, mereka pun harus turun tangan, blusukan ke lapangan untuk memperbaiki jika situasi semakin memburuk.

Mengapa?

Karena sejak awal, kebebasan bersuara atau parrhesia adalah satu dari tiga kualitas yang membedakan orang bijak (berfikir benar dan bertindak benar), berbeda dengan orang besar dan tenar (yang ini bisa berfikir benar, tetapi bertindak licik dan korup).

Sokrates menyatakan tiga macam kualitas ideal orang bijak: berpengetahuan (episteme), berpikir baik (eu noia), dan berbicara bla-blakan (parrhesia) (lih. “Mendidik Pemimpin dan Negarawan, hlm. 164)

Hate Speech vs Parrhesia
Definisi Parrhesia Parrhesia dipinjam dari kata Yunani, yang berarti untuk berbicara dengan berani, bebas atau dengan keterus-terangan yang bombastis. Hal ini mengatakan sesuatu dengan berani dan bebas tanpa meninggalkan keraguan belakang.

Kata itu datang dari dunia teater zaman Yunani Kuno. Euripides di abad ke-4 Sebelum Masehi memperkenalkannya dalam keenam lakon yang ditulisnya.

Dalam lakon “Perempuan-Perempuan Phoenisia”, sang ibu, Iocasta, bertanya kepada anaknya, Polyneises, yang datang dari tanah buangan untuk merebut takhta dari kakaknya.

Iocasta: Apa yang paling menyakitkan selama hidup di tanah pengasingan?
Polyneices: “Yang terburuk ini: kemerdekaan bicara tak ada.”

Ketika seorang penulis, baik itu wartawan, blogger, atau pengguna media sosial; maupun pembicara (narator atau pengkotbah) berbicara dengan bebas dan terbuka, berbagi pendapat dengan pembaca tentang suatu subjek, hal itu disebut parrhesia. Kata Latin ini diterjemahkan berarti “kebebasan berbicara.

Ini pula yang diulangi Demosthenes, seorang orator Yunani kuno, dalam pidato terbukanya “Tentang Perwalian”:

Berbicara dengan parrhesia, tanpa menyembunyikan maksud lain di balik ucapan kita, mutlak perlu. 
Menarik mengamati pidato President Amerika Serikat Eisenhower pada pidato perpisahannya di tahun 1961:

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.

Catatan penulis:

Mestinya Sokrates, Demosthenes dan Eisenhower tidak mesti kita bangkitkan lagi dari kubur untuk mengingatkan kita bahwa parrhesia alias kebebasan berbicara itu mahal harganya. Bagi orang merdeka, semahal itulah kemerdekaannya.

When it comes to making dreams come true, it is more frequent than never that fresh ideas from fresh graduates come out with so optimistic view and big pride.

One comes from my friend when we are involved in a conversation about being an entrepreneur. He rejects that kind of dream like the above picture, saying: “Hell, no. Being a civil officer or “PNS” is not my dream. I have more brilliant ideas than just being stuck and serving as civil officer or employee in any company. I can start my own company. I have passion on that, I know it”.

Okay. Well, you are just storytelling your dreams. And just like me or any other people, dreams are useless until we make it come true. We have heard about that, we know it.

So, what we are going to do?

Glancing at me, he said, “Hey, come on. You have internet and gadget in your hand. Goole it, or duckduckgo it. There are countless tips of doing it”.

What is next?

People buy anything, so you can sell anything.

Okay. What are the best items to make and sell?

And here goes the best bullshit when encouraging pals to start selling (being a sales people). Unfortunately, it comes sputtering from my own mouth:

Do some research on the market.

When the market is too broad, just look over your surroundings. 

Even if the surroundings are still too much, just take a look at your habit.

Things that you consume frequently are items that other people tend to consume, too.

After that, it it your next task to identify which you can afford to make and sell.

Be it food, handcraft, websites and online products, actually everything that is legally consumable has its market.

Doing this repeatedly will sharpen your market analysis.

You can expect to find your blue ocean, too.

And I keep trying to find more pages that talks the same, just to make a useless effort to convince myself. (Many times I wonder how come nowadays so many people have less confidence when sharing their opinions).

When seeking for advises, entrepreneurs need a nicely put advise. A honest one, different from so many other bullshit motivational quotes. No entrepreneur want to taste the same bullshit twice. And I am amazed when reading an unarguable truth that Entrepreneurs Fail as much as they Succeed.

In a brief explanation, it highlights some excellent motivational points.

Here I rewrite them.

Entrepreneurship is a way of life that offers unlimited possibilities to those who truly believe in it and live by it. But at the same time, entrepreneurship is a way of life that can totally alter the course of your life if misunderstood.

Entrepreneurship is not something you can fake your way through; you are either doing it right or not doing it right simple. There are no ways around it.

To help you better make that choice, here are 7 Indicators of entrepreneurs who are headed for doom. As you go through the list, be sincere to yourself and tick each of the signs currently present in your entrepreneurial life.

The purpose of this article is not to scare you or condemn you, but rather to alert you and help you retrace your steps back in the right direction before your entrepreneurial journey goes up in flames!

1) Survival Driven (Seeking Money before Adding Value)

This is one of the most obvious reasons why most entrepreneurs fail. If your primary motivation for being in business is to acquire wealth rather than to create and add value, then you’ve started off on the wrong foot. If the drive for money supersedes the drive to create innovative products/services that will add value to your target market, then is time for some serious soul searching.

The study above has plainly revealed what becomes of entrepreneurs who think like this –they never actually attain that level of financial freedom they so much lay emphasis on. Why? Because the universe will never reward those who seek to get before giving.

The purpose of entrepreneurship is not the accumulation of money but the creation of value-adding products/services that will help make the world a better place for all. Wealth is a result of consistently providing solutions to the problems of humanity.

If you doubt me, go ask Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Mark Zuckerberg and the likes. These are people like you and I who simply followed their passion (purpose driven) rather than following money (survival driven) and yet made a great fortune.

2) Inadequate Knowledge (Low Business IQ):

The entrepreneur on the path to failure won’t see the need to develop his/her business IQ because of the quest for money. Such an entrepreneur feel business is all about how much you can make. The fact that how much you can make is a function of how much you know and how much you can do is usually ignored. Thus, they forget that a business just like every other discipline requires certain competencies (knowledge, skill and experience) in order to remain functional.

So what do you eventually get? An entrepreneur who is dabbling his/her way through the ever dynamic world of business. In the end, failure becomes inevitable. Why? Because as an entrepreneur your ability to do is perpetually limited by what you know. In other words, you are the engine of your business.

So, to have more means you have to do more and to do more means you have to keep learning more! How do you learn more? By consistently focusing on personal development and self improvement through reading (books, blogs, magazines, etc.), attending seminars, business development trainings, executive mentorship or coaching programs, membership to a business club or network, etc.

3) Lack of Focus (Jack of all Trade)

The great Albert Einstein notably stated;

“genius is the ability to focus on one particular thing for a long time without losing concentration.”

Such is not the case for the entrepreneur heading for doom. In fact, the exact opposite is the case; trying to do more than one thing at a time eventually not achieving excellence in any. As an entrepreneur your success or failure will be as a result of how well you maximize your strengths.

Your strengths are those activities you naturally enjoy doing and would naturally do for free your entire life if necessary. This is how every great entrepreneur in history made their success; doing what they love and loving what they do.

They are not jack of all trades and masters of none, NO! They are jack of few trades and masters of some. Why? Because entrepreneurship is about using your passion to make a positive contribution for the benefit of others. Stop doing what everyone else can do and start doing what only you can do exceptionally well. Focus on your core areas of strength.

4) Fear of Failure (Risk-Averse)

Nursing the fear of failure is another reason why entrepreneurs fail in business. Entrepreneurship is about unleashing your passion and creativity to do something that you truly care about. It doesn’t matter whether what you have in mind to create is popular or generally acceptable, what matters is that it mattered enough to you that you are willing to do whatever it takes to make your idea become a reality.

The entrepreneur on the path to failure is the one who would never launch out because of the fear of failure, being laughed at, losing money, being called crazy etc.  Daring the un-dared for the sake of making change happen is the essence of entrepreneurship and it means looking your fear in the eye and stepping out in spite of it. Don’t allow fear of failure hold you back, do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain.

5) Lack of Vision (Shortsightedness)

Entrepreneurs fail for lack of vision. The entrepreneur on the path to doom is the one that will never think of tomorrow. If you cannot literally see yourself and your business far into the future beyond today, then you are on the path to destruction.

Why would you want to go into business just for today’s sake alone? Why would you want to build a business the world will no longer remember after you are gone? The essence of entrepreneurship is to perpetually be of service to humanity.

Therefore, you must never cease to ask and be able to answer this question; “What can we start doing today to meet the needs of tomorrow?” Not having this consciousness is the reason why most entrepreneurs fail in business. Since they are not thinking about the future, the need to keep improving their game will be less paramount and as a result; they end up being eaten up by those businesses that are consistently creating the future today.

6) Poor Money Management (Extravagance)

Being an entrepreneur means being able to do more with less. The entrepreneur on the path to failure is the one who is extravagant –the habit of being excessively flamboyant, wasteful or spending money irrationally. Thrift or frugality is a requirement for your entrepreneurial journey if you hope to become successful. How else do you intend to succeed if you cannot judiciously manage the resources in your disposal?

A good way to avoid being extravagant is to look into financial management systems and to classify your expenses into two categories; urgent expenses and Important expenses. Your urgent expenses are your recurrent expenses, meaning they are periodic in nature. Your important expenses are your capital expenses; meaning they are not periodic in nature but are necessary for the continuity of the business.

They are more like expenses made today in order to secure the future. Also, as your business begins to grow, don’t become one of those who start showing off the success of their business by acquiring unnecessary symbols of wealth. Place yourself on salary, this is very important. You must never take what is not yours, make it a priority to put aside and redeploy all excesses created by the business back into the business.

7) I Can Do Well All by Myself (Insecurity)

There is a limit to what an individual can achieve alone, thus the need for team work. The entrepreneur on the path to destruction is the one who will never empower others nor seek the help of others for fear that they might outshine him/her. Great things are seldom achieved alone.

As an entrepreneur, it’s very important you understand that you have no exclusive right to what is being done through you. Whatever it is you have in your mind to create is not entirely yours to dominate, you are only a vessel through which an idea, innovation or product/service is being launched.

So, you must get rid of any insecurity and every scarcity mentality you might have that someone is going to beat you to it. The more insecure you are and as a result keep refusing to solicit the help of those more better than you in certain areas, the more you endanger the chance of that idea, innovation, product or service ever becoming a reality.

Okay. The speech ends. Thanks for the idea. Really really brilliant ideas.

But, even this  very good article from naijapreneur is not enough. Really, why?

Simply because no baby can walk without walk on his/her feet.

And this big guy (RIP Bob Sadino) blows my mind as he really DO what he SAY.

It is so amazing when people nowadays feel that they are so well equipped to do anything. Technology has made everything possible for you. Gadgets and internet is always a great help when you are looking for any information. But, it is not always the case. Even when it comes to simple thing just like what my Quora’s friend recently asked me about.

“What are the best guides for learning to start a letter”?

Millenials will feel this question silly, but to Gen Y and Gen X, this could be a big problem.

Well, I am not sure whether there are certain guides to help people writing a letter. Additionally, if they are asking for the best. Probably all the bloggers and writers will refer to different people, according to their very personal experience. But, since there are more people who are not bloggers and writers, the reference and links probably will not give any hint.

Thus, it will be like asking people: “Who is the prettiest girl all of the world?”

Everybody may answer, and the pleasant truth is that everybody can shoot any name according to their appetite. For my dad, the answer is my mom. Well, he should encouraged to utter this expressly more frequently 🙂

When it comes to writing a specific letter for specific purpose addressed for a specific person, there you can do the same.

When you are writing a romance letter to your LDR-crush, write all things that make him/her to remember to the sender, it is you.

When you are writing a business letter to your potential customer, just read what others had done to you before. Read any newsletter subscribed to you by random marketer or news websites, and apply the same.

You just need to give another captioning.

Which sentences please you, use them.

Which persuasive methods impress you, use them.

Of course, make sure that you know what to write first.

Some people say that editing while writing will consume too much time.

I agree with that. Some drawn outline might be helpful to hinder that too long consuming effort of yours.

Hope this helps.