Monday, June 12, 2006
'Complacent' means well-pleased, in other words; smug, self-satisfied or easily content with something, accomplishments etc. someone feel so smug when he or she accomplishes just little things. This phenomenon explains why students of university, friends of mine among, do not possess as much knowledge as expected.
My place setting was Jogjakarta, a miniature of Indonesia to which people/ students from Sabang to Merauke comes and leaves every year. This place has long time ago be direction of high school students to continue their study. It is realized that every years' graduates from this city have only little experiences and are unskillful.
This can't be the parents' fault to send them there, but they've gradually been formed by their environment to be so. Jogja is well known by its naming 'kota pelajar' besides its tourism and is also likely to be kota nyantai. This has a great effect to its people. Most of my classmates become so pleased when they know something and stop there, never further (frankly speaking, I am not the exception he he…).
Many factors might be accused of this complacency of our college students but the most outstanding cause to be proposed is the city itself. The surroundings, the environment. I actually am complaining about how our students their feeling's not stuck to their very purpose; that is to study. I agree that studying is not only to be in a class listening to lecturer. Just true, university as institution of education has failed in connecting people to the real world which is its true reason of existence.
Permissive and suggestive attitude/ environment has made this problem much more complicated, and segregated colleges from its students. Visiting libraries has been replaced by regular visits to book rentals (which provide you comics and mostly bad novels, unfree). Discussion and studying clubs have been become smaller ngerucuting into a couple sitting on the liteless corner of a pub/nightclub (may be discussing Hermes and Aprodithe). Critical students/communities have gone perfectly substituted by 'anak-anak gedongan' who even are reluctant to glance at beggar. And the term 'mahasiswa' has deteriorated in its meaning to the point where it refers to a narrow-minded, unsocialized, study-oriented, full of doctrine, very good listener.