Emha protests with poems, songs<\/p>\n
By T. Sima Gunawan<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Say it with songs. Some sing to express love and
\njoy, others to express their pain. But songs can also be a means
\nof protest.<\/p>\n
Composer and singer Franky Sahilatua and poet-preacher Emha
\nAinun Nadjib recently released an album called Perahu Retak
\n(Cracked Boat) in protest against social, economic and political
\ninjustices. Franky composed the songs and Emha wrote the lyrics.<\/p>\n
Theirs is no polite protest: \"Aku heran, aku heran\/Yang salah
\ndipertahankan\/Aku heran, aku heran\/Yang benar disingkirkan (I'm
\namazed, I'm amazed\/The flawed is upheld\/I'm amazed, I'm
\namazed\/The righteous is ousted)...,\" they say in Perahu Retak.<\/p>\n
The album received a warm welcome from Abdurrahman Wahid,
\nchairman of the largest Moslem organization, Nahdlatul Ulama.<\/p>\n
\"Music can reach things which can't be reached by politics and
\nideology,\" Wahid said earlier this month in a discussion on the
\nalbum.<\/p>\n
\"The music of protest is free of human, time and power
\ndimensions ...,\" Wahid continued.<\/p>\n
Wahid said that unlike most music, which is generally here
\ntoday and gone tomorrow, protest music is more memorable. He also
\nbelieves that it has a longer life.<\/p>\n
Wahid said he was happy with the fact that the culture of
\nprotest still lives on in art when most people are afraid to
\nprotest. Not many people dare to protest because protest is
\nconsidered a \"big sin,\" he said.<\/p>\n
New experience<\/p>\n
For Emha, writing lyrics was something new. But, it was not
\nhis first protest.<\/p>\n
Emha, also called Cak (Brother) Nun, was born in Jombang, East
\nJava, on May 27, 1953. Emha has never hesitated to protest at
\ninjustice. Even as an elementary school student, Emha was
\nconcerned with justice. He was once expelled from class because
\nhe challenged his teacher. He told Kompas in 1993 that as he
\ndisagreed over something with the teacher he jumped over the
\ntable and kicked him.<\/p>\n
He went to Muhammadiyah high school in Yogyakarta, and then
\ncontinued his studies at the School of Economics of Gadjah Mada
\nUniversity. He wrote poems and worked as the editor on Masa Kini
\nnewspaper as well. Emha never finished his university education
\nas he was more absorbed in poetry.<\/p>\n
Earlier he had studied at Pondok Gontor Moslem boarding school
\nin Ponorogo, East Java. He learnt a lot about religion from his
\nfather, a graduate of Tebu Ireng Moslem boarding school in
\nJombang.<\/p>\n
Emha was born Muhammad Ainun Nadjib, but he shortened his
\nfirst name to MH (pronounced Emha), which he used when he wrote
\npoems. He later adopted Emha as his name.<\/p>\n
Emha has published a number of books of poems, essays and
\nplays. Among them are M. Frustrasi (M. Frustration -- 1970),
\nSajak Sepanjang Jalan (Poetry Along the Road -- 1977), Lautan
\nJilbab (A Sea Of Headscarfs -- 1991), Cahaya Maha Cahaya (Light
\nof the Light -- 1991), Sastra Yang Membebaskan (Literature which
\nLiberates -- 1984) and Indonesia Bagian Dari Desa Saya (Indonesia
\na Part of My Village -- 1992).<\/p>\n
He took part in a theater workshop in the Philippines in 1980,
\nthe International Writing Program at the University of Iowa,
\nU.S.A. (1984), the International Poets' Festival in Rotterdam
\n(1984) and Horizonte Festival in Berlin, Germany (1985).<\/p>\n
In 1990 he joined the Association of Indonesian Moslem
\nScholars (ICMI), but later resigned his membership when he
\nrealized that the organization lacked commitment to the common
\npeople.<\/p>\n
Today, Emha is known not only as a poet and Moslem scholar,
\nbut also as one of the country's most popular preachers.<\/p>\n
Emha married Neneng Suryaningsih in 1978 at the age of 25.
\nThey divorced seven years later. He has a son from the marriage.<\/p>\n
Rumors say he dated Neno Warisman, an artist and singer. He
\nsays they're just good friends. Another singer, Novia Kolopaking,
\nadmitted that she had a relationship with Emha.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month Emha invited Neno and Ike Nurjanah, a
\ndangdut singer to his house. Along with Wahid and Franky they
\nsang Kemesraan (Intimacy).<\/p>\n
Emha met Franky by chance and said he liked Franky because he
\nwas a good man. The fact that Franky is a Christian did not
\naffect their relationship.<\/p>\n
\"What's important is the product, not the religion,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Emha said that he might write lyrics for dangdut songs,
\nprovided the composer was a good person.<\/p>\n
Emha calls his songs lagu kebangsaan (people's songs).<\/p>\n
Lamentable<\/p>\n
In fact, Emha is concerned not only about the social,
\neconomical and political condition of the country, but also
\npeople's sense of nationhood.<\/p>\n
Emha said he believed that most people were reluctant to share
\nwhat they had.<\/p>\n
He also lamented the lack of democratization and lashed out
\nthose who did not want to listen to others.<\/p>\n
\"Our sense of civic responsibility is eroding because of many
\nfactors, including materialism and the degradation of spiritual
\nvalues,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"Our sense of nationhood is tattered.... We often fail to be
\nproper patriots.\"<\/p>\n
Emha lamented the current political condition.<\/p>\n
\"The current political scene is rotten,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Even though our politics are rotten, many people accept this
\nbecause they are used to it, he said.<\/p>\n
\"There are different kinds of people,\" he said. \"Some can
\nsurvive even in decay, others suffer or die when things are
\nrotten. Indonesians can survive in the midst of decay.\"<\/p>\n
He observed that although people were surrounded by injustice
\nand crime, they survived. They even kept calm, although they are
\nsurely restless and sad, he said, but the degree of their
\nrestlessness was not great enough to create a movement. The
\nmovement was always local and sporadic.<\/p>\n
Why don't people fight injustice?<\/p>\n
\"Because we have been trained to suffer. If the suffering is
\njust so-so, it's not enough to make them stand up.\"<\/p>\n
\"According to the theory of revolution, a big movement will
\nemerge from economic injustice. But here the economic injustice
\ncannot make people rise. We believe that if we suffer, our
\nchildren will be happy. So this has much to do with our
\nmentality\".<\/p>\n
Emha observed that while economic and political injustice
\ncould not make people rise up, they might rebel if their religion
\nis challenged.<\/p>\n
\"If a Moslem has the right to five plates but you give him or
\nher only two plates, they may not get angry. But if you say
\nsomething bad about prophet Muhammad, he or she will kill you,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
\"If you insult Islam, there will be a revolution.\"<\/p>\n
But he said that it was not religion which could make people
\nrise.<\/p>\n
\"It is the ethos, the way they perceive religion, not the
\nreligion itself,\" said Emha.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/emha-protests-with-poems-songs-1447893297",
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