Saturday, June 23, 2012
Pilihan Ibu, Sentuhan Pengasuh
Saya merasa terusik dengan iklan yang belakangan ini muncul di televisi. Produk baru tampaknya, khusus untuk bayi. Baru ada dua versi iklan untuk dua produk berbeda. Satu krim anti-ruam, satu lagi cairan pencuci piring (bisa juga untuk mencuci buah dan sayur). Saya tidak menyoroti soal produknya, melainkan bintang iklannya.
Dalam kedua iklan tersebut, ada dua tokoh orang dewasa, ibu dan pengasuh bayi. Dari mana saya tahu pengasuh? Lewat seragam yang dipakainya, mirip perawat. Nah, di iklan krim anti-ruam, si ibu bertanya (dan terkesan menyalahkan) kepada pengasuh, mengapa di kulit bayinya banyak ruam. Lantas si ibu memberi saran agar si pengasuh menggunakan krim anti-ruam tersebut. Si pengasuh (tentu saja) menampilkan mimik wajah seakan berkata, "Oh, begitu ya, Bu? Saya baru tahu.".
Berikutnya, di iklan cairan pencuci piring, si ibu (orang berbeda) memergoki pengasuh (orang berbeda pula) saat mencuci botol susu bayi. Dia bertanya mengapa busanya banyak. Si pengasuh beralasan busa banyak lebih baik untuk membersihkan botol susu. Seperti bisa ditebak, si ibu menyalahkan pengasuh dan menyodorkan cairan pencuci piring yang aman (food grade). Lagi-lagi si pengasuh bermimik seakan baru tahu.
Kedua iklan tersebut seperti biasa saja. Toh, di kehidupan sehari-hari kita sering melihat pengasuh bayi dalam keluarga muda, biasanya berseragam dari yayasan penyalurnya. Namun, terlepas dari performa mereka, sesungguhnya untuk urusan iklan, fenomena biasa menjadi punya nilai tersendiri. Bukan semata-mata karena terjadi di dunia nyata, kita bisa memasukkannya sebagai materi iklan. Iklan punya norma sendiri sebab dia ditonton oleh segala jenis pemirsa tanpa pandang bulu. Iklan tidak boleh menyinggung masalah SARA atau menampilkan kekerasan, misalnya. Pemasang iklan hanya bisa mengatur slot waktu tayang saja.
Dalam hal dua iklan yang tadi saya sebutkan, hadirnya tokoh pengasuh patut untuk dicermati. Apakah peran ibu sudah sedemikian bergesernya dalam pengasuhan anak? Tentu khususnya di kota besar. Meski (mungkin) pembuat iklan ingin menyampaikan bahwa tetap ibulah yang 'tahu' apa yang terbaik bagi buah hatinya, eksekutornya adalah si pengasuh tadi. Apa jadinya jika makin banyak anak Indonesia yang makin jarang disentuh oleh tangan ibu sendiri? Mereka akan lebih mengenal pengasuhnya daripada wanita yang melahirkan mereka. Jangan sampai pengasuh akan lebih disayangi, lebih dirindu, dan lebih dicari saat sakit. Jika demikian, maka penyesalanlah ujungnya.
Kalau saya ditanya, jika nanti saya memiliki anak, apakah saya akan memakai pengasuh? Jawaban saya, sepertinya tidak. Tidak sanggup bayar juga, hehe.. Sedih hati ini saat melihat bayi/balita yang lengket dengan pengasuhnya, padahal sang ibu berada tak jauh. Mom's there, but she's not there. Hal ini membuat saya bertekad untuk mengurus anak saya nanti dengan tangan saya sendiri. I want to get my hands dirty by taking care of my children. Semoga Allah swt mengizinkan saya untuk itu.
Kembali ke iklan, meski iklan (komersial) sendiri intinya untuk memasarkan produk dan menarik konsumen untuk membeli, dia juga mengemban peran tersembunyi sebagai agen penyebar dan pembentuk opini, sikap, dan ideologi. Jadilah pemirsa yang cerdas, yang mampu memilah dan memilih informasi yang benar dan baik untuk diserap, kemudian diolah. Untuk para pembuat iklan, rancanglah iklan yang cerdas dan mencerdaskan bangsa.
Untuk Indonesia jaya!
[Gambar dari sini.]
Friday, June 22, 2012
Back to school
Though I'm not officially a grad student yet, yes, I'm going back to school again!
Taking a PhD? Nope, I'm taking my second Master, something I've never imagined before. And guess where? Master of Science in Management School of Business and Management ITB!
Oh God, what have I done with my life? To myself? *O*
To take a second Master means another 2 years (though it's a 18-months program) before PhD. Then why on earth did I decide to take this?
E~verybody gives me that question. Only God knows the ultimate answer. To be honest, even now, I can't say that I'm ready 100% to study about science management since I have to reset my 'life science' orientation to another field which is new for me. I doubt myself and I don't know for how much longer I will feel like this.
Part of me is still engaged to laboratory research, but another part wants freedom. Yes, there were times when I felt so much under-pressured during my last research, which drove me to search info about career alternatives in science. I found a nice booklet on ScienceMag titled "Careers Away from the Bench" which brought new insight about world outside laboratory. Science provides broader spectrum of career than, simply said, research scientist. "So my life in science won't end just because I want to get out from the lab", inspired.
Then the vision got blurred. I went back home and applied for several PhD position related to microbial secondary metabolite, but... failed (God's plan? Must be.). At the same time, I got hooked with technology transfer (because of reading newspaper everyday) and felt that perhaps I can play my role there. Lack of adequate knowledge made me think, "Should I take another Master?".
As you might guess, the transition is not that easy. There's a feeling of insecurity and fear to lose what I have enjoyed for all these years. I do love microbiology research work, thus wanted to be an expert in that field. However, on the other side I don't want to be a mere scientist whose work won't eventually bring any benefit to the society. Worse thing is that's exactly the weakest point in Indonesia. Results from university research mostly end in the library, without any effort to make it real and useful for the society and environment. I see it as a consequence of the absence of a firm cooperation between university, business, and government.
How can I take part to change the situation?
By having knowledge in management, I hope to find the right key to help solving the condition bit by bit, to promote research as a strong support to build Indonesia. In this country, research has never been taken into account when it comes to make one decision, either in the government or industries. Research is still seen as a time-consuming and high-cost process, thus placed in the least priority. Sad. Without research, this nation will always be consumer, because it can't produce any invention or innovation.
Likely my part will not be in the lab research anymore, but more as a facilitator for research scientist to increase their bargaining position in the triple helix scheme (academia, industry, and government). Someone needs to open the way, right? So that, lab researches have greater chance to be taken into realization and bring benefit the society and environment.
Sounds ideal? Well, it's my nature to be an idealist person. LOL. Of course a dream must be ideal because it becomes your vision, your goal, your driving force. Something that can pull you to get closer to your destination. Without an ideal figure, you won't achieve something spectacular. Perhaps you'll never able to optimize your true ability.
Enough with idealism. Back to reality. Now, I'm already in my second week of matriculation class. Still adapting though, but giving my best. Yosh! Science management, wait for me to conquer you!
[Image from here.]
By having knowledge in management, I hope to find the right key to help solving the condition bit by bit, to promote research as a strong support to build Indonesia. In this country, research has never been taken into account when it comes to make one decision, either in the government or industries. Research is still seen as a time-consuming and high-cost process, thus placed in the least priority. Sad. Without research, this nation will always be consumer, because it can't produce any invention or innovation.
Likely my part will not be in the lab research anymore, but more as a facilitator for research scientist to increase their bargaining position in the triple helix scheme (academia, industry, and government). Someone needs to open the way, right? So that, lab researches have greater chance to be taken into realization and bring benefit the society and environment.
Sounds ideal? Well, it's my nature to be an idealist person. LOL. Of course a dream must be ideal because it becomes your vision, your goal, your driving force. Something that can pull you to get closer to your destination. Without an ideal figure, you won't achieve something spectacular. Perhaps you'll never able to optimize your true ability.
Enough with idealism. Back to reality. Now, I'm already in my second week of matriculation class. Still adapting though, but giving my best. Yosh! Science management, wait for me to conquer you!
[Image from here.]
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