Contemplating Human Age

KOMPAS/LUCKY PRANSISKA

Kasem enjoys a lunch ration from Bina Insani Bangun Daya social institution, Cipayung, East Jakarta, after attending an event for the elderly on Wednesday (6/18/2014).

I contemplate the human age in four periods from beginning to end: Initial, Young, Old and the End. These four periods span from birth to death and each period has a similar range of 25 years.

This kind of pragmatic thinking, I call graphical thinking (PG). This is mere pragmatic contemplation, purely physical and not involving any spiritual – let alone religious – aspect.

I wish to connect this contemplation of human age with rural development based on farmers groups. This community-based approach to agriculture has been in full swing since the Bimas Padi program in the early 1960s.

Students are driven to participate in the project. The increase in rice production was quite impressive due to the farmers’ implementation of advanced technology based on the results of research into using NPK fertilizers and eradicating rice diseases. These studies were implemented and proven to increase farmers’ rice production.

What if we implement this Bimas system in every age within the framework of the PG program? First, we will need to inventory the number of villagers.

The initial age period will perhaps be filled by elementary school and junior high school students. There will not be many high school students, as many have left their villages. Only a few youth will be in the young period, as many no longer live in the villages; they have moved to the cities, either to study or work.

The old and the end age periods are filled with elderly people born in the 1950s. There are not many of them, and they have low productivity.

Critical situation

Our main concern is the critical situation of villages due to the strong pull of cities offering more promises, under which rural development is focused on the initial age group. Through formal education, we need to create a system oriented towards developing rural agroindustry.

A study must be conducted that drives our thinkers to be more orientated towards a rural agroindustry that is based on farmers group. An education program based on advanced technological systems must be established, implementing holistic agricultural development that is integrated with local rural development.

Long-term village management must be the basis of formal education up to secondary education. Social media must be used side-by-side with modern technology.

Nevertheless, the joy of reading print media must still be nurtured. This joy of reading will help people increase their knowledge, both from print and digital media.

In terms of the groups of young and old, comprising people between 30 and 70 years old who still live in the villages, they must be the initiators of village development. In their hands lies national development based on peripheral villages.

For me, peripheral villages refer not only to villages in the borderland areas of islands far from the center of government, but also villages considered “distant” from the focus of national development. With advancements in communications technology, this should no longer be a problem.

KOMPAS/ B JOSIE SUSILO HARDIANTO

The condition of Linus (left) is one of 92 toddlers and children in Asmat who are being treated for malnutrition and undernourishment at the hall of GPI Church in Agats.

Human resources

To carry out development according to programs and planned implementation, physically and intellectually capable human resources is necessary. If we require our human resources to have at least an undergraduate degree, for instance, apart from being equipped with knowledge, we still need them to be psychologically prepared to work with farmers.

An agriculture graduate specializing in agronomy, for instance, may not have adequate knowledge in socioeconomics and sociopolitics to tackle the problems in peripheral villages. Additional education in human ecology may be necessary to better approach farmers.

The fundamental line of thinking I use is to divide humans into age groups of 25-year intervals. If we assume that human lives span 100 years, then there are four age groups, as I mentioned earlier.

Part of the plan

In terms of this division, before and after the end of a lifespan, there may be age groups beyond those mentioned here, although I am sure such age groups exist.

My ability is only graphical, using the X- and Y-axes and creating a line that moves continually forward and never backward. This idea is based on the fact that human beings always age, and never grow young.

By writing down this notion of dividing people based on age, I hope that the people can better follow the development plans, both national and regional. No matter how you look at it, all individuals have concerns regarding their age.

In this way, all individuals can more easily understand development plans. It may even become easier to absorb it. Such is my hope in writing this article. Hopefully this writing can be beneficial to all readers.

Sjamsoe’oed Sadjad, Professor Emeritus, School of Agriculture, Bogor Institute of Agriculture