Jakob’s Well

KOMPAS/FERGANATA INDRA RIATMOKO

Kompas Gramedia CEO Lilik Oetama (second from right) and Irwan Oetama (second from left), son of one of the Kompas Daily Jakob Oetama newspaper, draw water from the well as a symbol of the inauguration of the Yakopan Park in the Omah Petroek Karang Klethak complex, Wonorejo Hamlet, Hargobinangun Village, Pakem, Sleman, DI Yogyakarta, on Monday (30/9/2019).

It is no longer the era to contrast print and online media. They must complement each other. This does not mean that print media can be complacent. They must join the race and they will be defeated if they seek to be equal online media in terms of speed. Only by returning to vision and content will print media be a tough competitor for online media.Vision and content are like water that must be drawn continuously from a well. This is what the Jakob’s Well art installation in Yakopan Park, Omah Petroek, Karang Klethak, Pakem, Sleman, wishes to portray. The 17-meter-deep well has a statue of Jakob Oetama created by sculptor Wilman Sanur. Jakob Oetama is seen holding a rope and a bucket as if offering people to “draw from my well”.

What are these visions and content that must be continuously drawn? They are succinctly conveyed in the motto you read every day in Kompas: Amanat Hati Nurani Rakyat (“the mandate of people’s conscience”). With this motto, Kompas clearly must stay in touch with the people’s beating heart, as well as their feelings and intuition. It is already hard to dive into a person’s conscience – let alone an entire population. However, whoever wishes to dive into it will find extraordinarily strong willpower and rich inspiration.

With all its limitations and ups and downs, Kompas always tries to carry the mandates of the people’s conscience, along with its voice, struggles, sincerity and radiance.

People’s conscience continues to fight even though their voice is never heard. It continues to fight through numerous obstacles. It continuously strive to be sincere in an insincere world. It continuously strive to be the light in the darkness. With all its limitations and ups and downs, Kompas always tries to carry the mandates of the people’s conscience, along with its voice, struggles, sincerity and radiance.

People’s conscience is often hurt, manipulated and even trampled by powers, politics and injustice. With its mandate, Kompas tries to expose such wounds and the pain and sorrow they cause. This surely creates inconvenience for those in powers or in politics who create the wounds. Unsurprisingly, Kompas was once banned by them. It was an eye-opening experience that made us realize that suffering is a part of the game when you try to expose certain wounds.

Indeed, people’s conscience is a spirit that cannot die if we keep it alive. As Kompas strives to carry the mandate of people’s conscience, it is blessed with an abundance of conscientious life that cannot be hampered by any difficulty. It is this conscience that makes Kompas able to stay alive and persist until its 55th anniversary.

Kompas/Yuniadhi Agung

Jakob Oetama\'s son, Irwan Oetama, delivered his remarks after receiving the 2019 Achmad Bakrie Award given to the Kompas Daily General Leader, Jakob Oetama. The award was given by Aburizal Bakrie in Jakarta, Wednesday (14/8/2019). Jakob Oetama received the Achmad Bakrie award in journalism for making Kompas survive through the ages as part of the fourth pillar of democracy.

In carrying the mandate of the people’s conscience, Kompas understands the people as something abstract. In reality, the people are often left out and marginalized. They are the poorest of the poor. In this country, they are the majority of us. Consequently, carrying the mandate of the people’s conscience is often seen as “defending the poor and censuring the rich”.Through the motto, an option has been clearly taken: defending and giving voice to the poorest of the poor. The option does not mean excluding those who are established and rich. It merely reminds us that we are all in the boat. The boat cannot sink just because a majority of its passengers cannot defend themselves while a small minority with money has no care for their fate. Therefore, the option reaffirms that, if you do not want the boat to sink, you must survive together. You cannot survive alone, whether you are rich or poor.

Small people

In its history, Kompas has untiringly defended the poor. The cases of Sum Kuning, Sengkon and karta, Marsinah, Pak De, Sarijo, Grandmother Minah, and countless others are deeply exposed to show how unfortunate and disempowered the small and poor people really are. Their stories were huge slaps in the face for those with power and money – and the capability to do as they wish with what they have. This is a concrete form of “defending the poor, censuring the rich” in law.

In economy, the option is manifested in news reportage about social justice. Defending the poor is no mere romanticism about the poor, but instead a fierce struggle to enforce social justice. Through various examples and analysis, we show how the people are endangered whenever social injustice is left unchecked. In this aspect, Kompas has censured the rich clearly and harshly – not only with words, but with data and real reports of life in suffering.

In humanities, there is much reportage on the lives of the poor. Humanism is truly alive in their daily life. They persevere to live as well-rounded humans despite their poverty and limitations. Their will to live is truly miraculous, as if a transcendental power resides within them. It is unsurprising that people are saying, if you wish to find God, find Him within the poor and the wretched. If indeed He is there, then it is true that we need to defend the poor by censuring the rich.

The poor can live with what they have. If promoting their stories is seen as carrying the mandate of the people’s conscience, their modesty is a huge slap enough on the faces of the rich. The rich often do not care about substance in their lives but always focus on accessories and superficial things. In the luxury of their wealth, cars, houses and other possessions, they seem to feel as if they more human than others.The Covid-19 has truly exposed that these accessories mean truly nothing. The pandemic has laid bare all humans and force them to return to modesty. In the end, a human can only be human when he or she is willing to share with others, especially those who are suffering. In actuality, this has always been the hope of the poor, even long before Covid-19.

The rich often lose all hope. Meanwhile, for the poor, hope is often their most powerful possession. Consequently, if we wish to see our dreams in the future, we cannot leave behind the poor. In their eyes, today’s establishment is a mistake. They are hoping for a future where the world is better, more just, more equitable and more prosperous.

KOMPAS/FERGANATA INDRA RIATMOKO

Sindhunata

For 55 years, Kompas has drawn from their well of hope. In the quiet village of Karang Klethak, Jakob’s Well reminds us all that hope is a well that Kompas must continuously draw from if it wishes to continue carrying the mandate of the people’s conscience.

Sindhunata, Journalist