Trisakti student congress: Comparative study in Gudeg land
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.