To Emha Ainun Nadjib

To Emha Ainun Nadjib

From Republika

Indonesian television has made great progress over the years,
especially as a source of information, but regrettably it has
also brought a decline in moral values and in the preservation of
Eastern culture.

The negative impact from the decline has got my friends and me
worried. I once wrote a letter of the same tenor to this
newspaper and directed it to those responsible for the broadcasts
of the television stations. I also asked the ulemas (religious
teachers or leaders) for their attention to the matter, in the
hope that they would take the appropriate steps to solve the
matter.

I am very disappointed. It was as if my voice remained
unheeded. Therefore I now prefer to write to Emha Ainun Nadjib
(Cak Nun), a person who I see as having greater sensitivity
towards problems like these.

I hope that Cak Nun will understand and respond to our social
concerns. His voice will be heeded rather than ours.

Frankly speaking, I am disillusioned by the attitude of some
of our ulemas who remain silent watching TV programs which
clearly show moral deviations. It is as if the interest of a few
people at the TV stations is more important than the moral safety
of the whole Indonesian society. When we voice our concerns to
the ulemas and they do not respond, we feel like children who
have lost their parents.

We therefore hope that Cak Nun will represent us to stop the
growth of the roots of evil caused by the television programs
with negative impact. It is undeniable that many television
programs have an adverse influence on youths, like the films
showing too much freedom in Western culture, sinetron(serial)
films of low quality, advertisements intentionally designed to
hint at pornography. The way our own artists dress will probably
soon be imitated by the public. It is possible that the many
criminal acts in our community are influenced by the films on TV
that show continual violence.

Help us, Cak Nun, to change the course of evil to that of the
virtue, and to convert errors into truthful acts, so we can
redeem our progeny's destiny.

ELLO ALAYDRUS

Jakarta