Arsip kepongahan 15 tahun silam

▒ Lama baca 2 menit

Ada saja orang yang meneruskan tautan berita The Jakarta Post 2010 ini kepada saya. Sejak dulu saya tahu namun saya biarkan. Padahal saat itu saya antara lain berlangganan JP di rumah, juga untuk anak saya, agar bahasa Inggris mereka tak memalukan seperti bapaknya.

Ada yang usul agar saya mengarsipkan liputan JP dari Bonn, Jerman — koresponden Koran Tempo di Berlin juga datang dan meliput — dengan alasan mumpung arsipnya belum lenyap.

Sebenarnya saya kurang suka mengeposkan cerita diri sedang tampil di suatu acara. Menampilkan foto diri di blog ini juga jarang. Saya lebih suka mengunggah apa yang saya foto. Dulu ketika bekerja di media cetak saya tak pernah menampilkan foto diri di suatu tempat. Kalau dalam kredit foto ada nama saya berarti merupakan bukti saya memang berada di situ.

Kini berita tersebut saya arsipkan di sini, kebetulan memang ada rubrik eh kategori Salinan, yang jarang termutakhirkan itu. Namun untuk mengeset pos ini agar tampak terbit 2010, dan supaya tak terlihat pembaca hari ini, rasanya tak mungkin karena akan ketahuan juga.

Ya, saya akui bahwa dalam berita lama saya tampak mbagusi, ngeblog dengan alasan yang muluk-muluk. Dulu alam pikir saya memang wagu, dan sekarang makin wagu. Kini ngeblog bagi saya cuma buat ngerem kepikunan. Tetapi rem saya sering blong.

Tabik.

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NEWS INDONESIA

Antyo Rentjoko: Writing the history of ordinary people

Blogger Antyo Rentjoko chose the Indonesian word gombal, which implies “uselessness”, as the name for his blog.

Agnes Winarti (The Jakarta Post)
Bonn Tue, August 3, 2010

Blogger Antyo Rentjoko chose the Indonesian word gombal, which implies “uselessness”, as the name for his blog. But blogombal.org is not completely useless.

Antyo’s 4-year-old blog was recently recognized as the best Indonesian-language blog, at the annual BOBs (Best Of the Blogs) Awards in Bonn, Germany.

“Blogging is a means to maintain my sanity. It’s important for me to flush out what’s on my mind. So, blogging for me is a very therapeutic experience,” the father of two teenage girls told The Jakarta Post after receiving his award in Bonn.

Antyo, who turns 50 next year, keeps his youthful spirit alive by blogging — not the most common choice of media among his peers. Growth of social media in Indonesia is mostly celebrated by youngsters aged between 13 and 25.

Internet penetration is still considered low, with only around 13 percent of Indonesia’s 250 million citizens having access to the net in 2009, according to a report by Konrad-Adenauer Stiftung.

Antyo’s blog stood out from some 580 Indonesian-language blogs. Overall around 58,000 blogs in 11 languages — Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, English, French, German, Indonesian, Persian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish — participated in the world’s largest international weblog awards for weblogs, podcasts and videoblogs, with content supporting dialogue on various social issues.

The event has been held by German international public broadcaster Deutsche Welle since 2004. Last year, another Indonesian blogger, Pitra Satvika, also won a BOBs Award for his media-ide.com blog.

The strength of Antyo’s blog, which is enjoyed by readers from 16 to 60 years old, lies in its wide range of content, from history, politics and social issues, featuring daily stories often overlooked by the mainstraim media.

“It’s important for me to continue learning how to write, especially in plain language with proper style and structure. In my opinion, there’s no such thing as a fully trained soldier, because a soldier should always be in training,” said Antyo, familiarly referred to as Paman (Uncle) Tyo.

Antyo is also active in several other sites including antyo.rentjoko.net, dagdigdug.com and politikana.com., and has journalist experience in several other media outlets, including Komputer Aktif magazine and Gramedia Majalah Online.

Antyo hopes to see other people writing their own histories within the next 10 years. He believes that ordinary people, and not just the institutionalized media, are capable of writing history.

“Blogs offer an outlet for the raw material that describes a common person’s history,” Antyo said.

“Of course, there will be credibility questions concerning blog inputs, but I also believe in the wisdom of the crowd. Readers will read what they feel is worth reading, and overlook writings that don’t interest them,” he said.

Understanding the need to support the Indonesian blogger community, Antyo has also been active in workshops for both beginners and regular bloggers.

“The key to getting started is simple: keep practicing and keep trying. The blogger community must play a supporting role, as I understand the fundamental reason most people stop blogging is because they aren’t satisfied with the number of responses they receive,” said Antyo.

“In the name of bloggerhood, may the spirit of blogging never die. So, bloggers across the world, let’s write!” Antyo said in his brief speech after being awarded with The BOBs trophy.

¬ This article was published in thejakartapost.com