Trisakti student congress: Comparative study in Gudeg land

The Congress of the Trisakti Student Society carried out a comparative study in Yogyakarta from Aug. 28 to Aug. 31, 2005. Two of the participants, Aditya Andika and Mario Joseph Pierre, recall their activity in the city of culture.

Yogyakarta is known for its culture, historical sites, universities and of course, for its sweet gudeg (unripe jackfruit cooked in coconut milk). Curiosity led us, the Congress of Trisakti Student Society, to choose this university town as our location for a comparative study of student governments. The date was Aug. 28, 2005 and the group, consisting of congress members and one student reporter from Trisakti student bulletin Kampus Jaket Biru, was ready to go. We departed from Trisakti University at 9 p.m. on the university bus to meet our counterparts in the Legislative Branch of Student Governments.

We reached the outskirts of Yogyakarta at around 8 a.m. the following day and headed straight to the first location of the comparative study: Veteran National Development University (UPN Veteran). One hour later, our bus stopped and there we were, at the parking lot of UPN. Wahyu, the chairman of the UPN Veteran Student Representatives Council and the rest of the welcoming committee from UPN guided us through the hallways of the university to one of the meeting rooms where the opening ceremony was to be held. The ceremony was attended by the university's vice rector for student affairs Soemadi, whose welcome speech was animated and filled with humor.

After the ceremonial protocol had been done with, the comparative study started in the form of discussions about the student government constitution, election rules, funding system, and some issues related to the development of democracy in each university. After a long and exciting discussion, we came to the conclusion that although there were differences in our organizational system, both systems were designed to uphold democracy in daily student life. The discussion ended with a simple closing ceremony, where Marwan Dien Lego, the head of the comparative study committee, gave a closing speech. We had a campus tour afterwards to see the facilities and student activities.

Wahyu and his friends offered to take us to Parangtritis Beach and we took no convincing. We enjoyed every activity a beach could offer, except swimming because of the strong currents and tides. The sky was overcast and it looked like rain so we decided to return to our inn and to spend the rest of the evening there.

Morning came and the sun shone on our sleepy faces through the windowpanes at daybreak, forcing us to wake up. The calendar on the inn wall showed us that it was Aug. 30, 2005 and we still had one university left to visit. Yogyakarta State University (UNY) was our next destination.

A large banner with the words Student Republic caught our attention when we entered the gates of UNY. We moved on and were greeted by the welcoming committee from UNY.

The first question that came up was about the term Student Republic. Endi, the chairman of UNY Student Representatives Council, explained that it was the name of the student organization. The name Student Republic is only adopted in UNY, just like the name Student Society is only adopted in Trisakti University while most student organizations in other universities, like UPN Veteran adopt the name Student Family.

Through discussion, we found out that their organizational system was very similar to the Indonesian government. They had a Student Representative's Council and Student Consultative Assembly, which are comparable to the House of Representatives and People's Consultative Assembly.

The discussion became more exciting when everybody was motivated to give their opinion on the organizational system of both universities.

After the discussion ended, we decided to go shopping and eat gudeg on Malioboro Street. It was definitely a one-stop shopping area, for each of us was able to find something to buy. Silver jewelry, wooden handicrafts and T-shirts were the signature items found in most of the shops.

The next day, we traveled back to Jakarta satisfied with the results of our meetings. While on the road, we tried to analyze the results of our comparative study and came to the conclusion that every student organization, although it differs from one university to another, has its own way of upholding democracy and supporting the democratic learning process for their students.