26/08/2010 - 11:45
Wawancara Calon Ketua KPK
Bambang Widjojanto Tak Kuasa Menahan Tangis
Santi Andriani
INILAH.COM, Jakarta - Pengacara Bambang Widjojanto mendapat giliran pertama wawancara seleksi calon pengganti ketua KPK. Bambang yang selalu memberikan jawaban dengan penuh semangat dan berapi-rapi akhirnya berurai air mata. Kenapa?
Bambang luluh dan berurai air mata ketika menjawab pertanyaan apakah dirinya tetap akan menjadi pemimpin Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi (KPK) jika mendapat ancaman baik jiwa maupun raga demi memberantas korupsi.
"Kalau terancam jiwa dan soft power, mampu diteruskan atau tidak (menjadi pimpinan KPK)," tanya anggota Panitia Seleksi (Pansel) Akhiar Salmi saat mewawancarai Bambang di Kementerian Hukum dan Hak Asasi Manusia, Jakarta, Kamis(26/8).
Mendapat pertanyaan itu, Bambang mengisahkan pengalamannya ketika memberikan bantuan hukum di Papua saat dirinya masih aktif di Lembaga Bantuan Hukum (LBH) beberapa tahun silam. Dia menceritakan bagaimana dia akhirnya selamat ketika dirinya menjadi target pihak yang tidak suka akan kegiatannya.
"Urusan mati adalah hak prerogatif Allah. Kalau itu yang menjadi taruhan, saya ikhlas karena yang diperlukan Indonesia adalah meletakkan amanat di pimpinan. Saya ingin menyumbangkan pengetahuan dan fitrah
saya untuk memberikan kontribusi bagi bangsa ini," kata Bambang menahan tangis.
Dia pun meminta maaf kepada Pansel karena menangis.
Sebelum itu, ketika ditanya soal peranan KPK dan bagaimana ia memimpin ketika terpilih nanti, Bambang menguraikan setidaknya ada tiga hal yang harus ditingkatkan di internal KPK, yaitu pertama, konsolidasi kelembagaan sebagai penegak hukum. Kedua, membangun sinergi dan kepercayaan publik dan ketiga sosialisasi.
Soal tanggungjawab dan peranan seorang pemimpin KPK, Bambang menegaskan ketua KPK selain harus mampu menjadi manager juga harus memiliki insting legislatif. Bambang pun yakin dengan pengetahuan dan pengalamannya di bidang hukum bisa memenuhi. "Untuk itu saya bisa diandalkan," tegasnya.
Soal informasi negatif terhadap Bambang, Anggota Pansel Soeharto menanyakan perihal dirinya yang sempat dituding menjadi markus atau makelar kasus karena membela perkara kepailitan PT Dewata. Bambang pun megatakan dirinya memang pernah diterpa anggapan itu.
"Baru tiga hari, saya belum melakukan action (pembelaan) apa-apa tiba-tiba ada fax masuk ke saya yang ditembuskan kemana-mana yang menyebut saya markus. Saya sakit hati, tapi itu justru membuat saya semangat
melakukan investigasi lebih jauh," tandasnya.
Dia menceritakan, saat itu dirinya diminta membela perkara sebuah perusahaan yang dinyatakan pailit dan harus membayar kewajiban. Pemilik perusahaan menolak membayar. "Saya tidak membela pengemplang, saat itu yang kita persoalkan adalah jumlah kewajibannya itu yang tidak jelas," belanya.
Mantan Wakil Ketua KPK yang juga anggota Pansel Erry Riyana Hardjapamekas menyinggung soal apa yang akan dilakukan Bambang menyikapi pertikaian antara lembaga penegak hukum yang belakangan terjadi dan bagaimana
memperbaikinya.
"Untuk itu, saya ajukan modal sosial saya, saat ini saya juga masih tercatat sebagai tenaga ahli di Kejaksaan. Bagaimana membangun succes story bukan rivalitas, saya bayangkan bagaimana dengan Polri ada training bersama, ada gelar kasus bersama dan membangun trust building bersama," urainya.
Dia menilai, selama ini ada pandangan diskriminatif terhadap aparat Kepolisian. Hal itu contohnya, nampak dari anggaran yang sangat rendah diberikan negara untuk operasional penanganan kasus khusunya di
tingkat polsek. "Selain gaji, operasional penanganan kasus hanya Rp2,5 juta setia bulan di setiap Polsek. Bagaiamana kita bangun Polisi yang baik kalau ada diskriminatif seperti ini," urainya. [nic]
Rabu, 25 Agustus 2010
Minggu, 08 Agustus 2010
100 i$ MORE THAN ENOUGH
August 7, 2010
But Will It Make You Happy?
By STEPHANIE ROSENBLOOM
SHE had so much.
A two-bedroom apartment. Two cars. Enough wedding china to serve two dozen people.
Yet Tammy Strobel wasn’t happy. Working as a project manager with an investment management firm in Davis, Calif., and making about $40,000 a year, she was, as she put it, caught in the “work-spend treadmill.”
So one day she stepped off.
Inspired by books and blog entries about living simply, Ms. Strobel and her husband, Logan Smith, both 31, began donating some of their belongings to charity. As the months passed, out went stacks of sweaters, shoes, books, pots and pans, even the television after a trial separation during which it was relegated to a closet. Eventually, they got rid of their cars, too. Emboldened by a Web site that challenges consumers to live with just 100 personal items, Ms. Strobel winnowed down her wardrobe and toiletries to precisely that number.
Her mother called her crazy.
Today, three years after Ms. Strobel and Mr. Smith began downsizing, they live in Portland, Ore., in a spare, 400-square-foot studio with a nice-sized kitchen. Mr. Smith is completing a doctorate in physiology; Ms. Strobel happily works from home as a Web designer and freelance writer. She owns four plates, three pairs of shoes and two pots. With Mr. Smith in his final weeks of school, Ms. Strobel’s income of about $24,000 a year covers their bills. They are still car-free but have bikes. One other thing they no longer have: $30,000 of debt.
Ms. Strobel’s mother is impressed. Now the couple have money to travel and to contribute to the education funds of nieces and nephews. And because their debt is paid off, Ms. Strobel works fewer hours, giving her time to be outdoors, and to volunteer, which she does about four hours a week for a nonprofit outreach program called Living Yoga.
“The idea that you need to go bigger to be happy is false,” she says. “I really believe that the acquisition of material goods doesn’t bring about happiness.”
While Ms. Strobel and her husband overhauled their spending habits before the recession, legions of other consumers have since had to reconsider their own lifestyles, bringing a major shift in the nation’s consumption patterns.
“We’re moving from a conspicuous consumption — which is ‘buy without regard’ — to a calculated consumption,” says Marshal Cohen, an analyst at the NPD Group, the retailing research and consulting firm.
Amid weak job and housing markets, consumers are saving more and spending less than they have in decades, and industry professionals expect that trend to continue. Consumers saved 6.4 percent of their after-tax income in June, according to a new government report. Before the recession, the rate was 1 to 2 percent for many years. In June, consumer spending and personal incomes were essentially flat compared with May, suggesting that the American economy, as dependent as it is on shoppers opening their wallets and purses, isn’t likely to rebound anytime soon.
On the bright side, the practices that consumers have adopted in response to the economic crisis ultimately could — as a raft of new research suggests — make them happier. New studies of consumption and happiness show, for instance, that people are happier when they spend money on experiences instead of material objects, when they relish what they plan to buy long before they buy it, and when they stop trying to outdo the Joneses.
If consumers end up sticking with their newfound spending habits, some tactics that retailers and marketers began deploying during the recession could become lasting business strategies. Among those strategies are proffering merchandise that makes being at home more entertaining and trying to make consumers feel special by giving them access to exclusive events and more personal customer service.
While the current round of stinginess may simply be a response to the economic downturn, some analysts say consumers may also be permanently adjusting their spending based on what they’ve discovered about what truly makes them happy or fulfilled.
“This actually is a topic that hasn’t been researched very much until recently,” says Elizabeth W. Dunn, an associate professor in the psychology department at the University of British Columbia, who is at the forefront of research on consumption and happiness. “There’s massive literature on income and happiness. It’s amazing how little there is on how to spend your money.”
CONSPICUOUS consumption has been an object of fascination going back at least as far as 1899, when the economist Thorstein Veblen published “The Theory of the Leisure Class,” a book that analyzed, in part, how people spent their money in order to demonstrate their social status.
And it’s been a truism for eons that extra cash always makes life a little easier. Studies over the last few decades have shown that money, up to a certain point, makes people happier because it lets them meet basic needs. The latest round of research is, for lack of a better term, all about emotional efficiency: how to reap the most happiness for your dollar.
So just where does happiness reside for consumers? Scholars and researchers haven’t determined whether Armani will put a bigger smile on your face than Dolce & Gabbana. But they have found that our types of purchases, their size and frequency, and even the timing of the spending all affect long-term happiness.
One major finding is that spending money for an experience — concert tickets, French lessons, sushi-rolling classes, a hotel room in Monaco — produces longer-lasting satisfaction than spending money on plain old stuff.
“ ‘It’s better to go on a vacation than buy a new couch’ is basically the idea,” says Professor Dunn, summing up research by two fellow psychologists, Leaf Van Boven and Thomas Gilovich. Her own take on the subject is in a paper she wrote with colleagues at Harvard and the University of Virginia: “If Money Doesn’t Make You Happy Then You Probably Aren’t Spending It Right.” (The Journal of Consumer Psychology plans to publish it in a coming issue.)
Thomas DeLeire, an associate professor of public affairs, population, health and economics at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, recently published research examining nine major categories of consumption. He discovered that the only category to be positively related to happiness was leisure: vacations, entertainment, sports and equipment like golf clubs and fishing poles.
Using data from a study by the National Institute on Aging, Professor DeLeire compared the happiness derived from different levels of spending to the happiness people get from being married. (Studies have shown that marriage increases happiness.)
“A $20,000 increase in spending on leisure was roughly equivalent to the happiness boost one gets from marriage,” he said, adding that spending on leisure activities appeared to make people less lonely and increased their interactions with others.
According to retailers and analysts, consumers have gravitated more toward experiences than possessions over the last couple of years, opting to use their extra cash for nights at home with family, watching movies and playing games — or for “staycations” in the backyard. Many retailing professionals think this is not a fad, but rather “the new normal.”
“I think many of these changes are permanent changes,” says Jennifer Black, president of the retailing research company Jennifer Black & Associates and a member of the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisors in Oregon. “I think people are realizing they don’t need what they had. They’re more interested in creating memories.”
She largely attributes this to baby boomers’ continuing concerns about the job market and their ability to send their children to college. While they will still spend, they will spend less, she said, having reset their priorities.
While it is unlikely that most consumers will downsize as much as Ms. Strobel did, many have been, well, happily surprised by the pleasures of living a little more simply. The Boston Consulting Group said in a June report that recession anxiety had prompted a “back-to-basics movement,” with things like home and family increasing in importance over the last two years, while things like luxury and status have declined.
“There’s been an emotional rebirth connected to acquiring things that’s really come out of this recession,” says Wendy Liebmann, chief executive of WSL Strategic Retail, a marketing consulting firm that works with manufacturers and retailers. “We hear people talking about the desire not to lose that — that connection, the moment, the family, the experience.”
Current research suggests that, unlike consumption of material goods, spending on leisure and services typically strengthens social bonds, which in turn helps amplify happiness. (Academics are already in broad agreement that there is a strong correlation between the quality of people’s relationships and their happiness; hence, anything that promotes stronger social bonds has a good chance of making us feel all warm and fuzzy.)
And the creation of complex, sophisticated relationships is a rare thing in the world. As Professor Dunn and her colleagues Daniel T. Gilbert and Timothy D. Wilson point out in their forthcoming paper, only termites, naked mole rats and certain insects like ants and bees construct social networks as complex as those of human beings. In that elite little club, humans are the only ones who shop.
AT the height of the recession in 2008, Wal-Mart Stores realized that consumers were “cocooning” — vacationing in their yards, eating more dinners at home, organizing family game nights. So it responded by grouping items in its stores that would turn any den into an at-home movie theater or transform a backyard into a slice of the Catskills. Wal-Mart wasn’t just selling barbecues and board games. It was selling experiences.
“We spend a lot of time listening to our customers,” says Amy Lester, a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart, “and know that they have a set amount to spend and need to juggle to meet that amount.”
One reason that paying for experiences gives us longer-lasting happiness is that we can reminisce about them, researchers say. That’s true for even the most middling of experiences. That trip to Rome during which you waited in endless lines, broke your camera and argued with your spouse will typically be airbrushed with “rosy recollection,” says Sonja Lyubomirsky, a psychology professor at the University of California, Riverside.
Professor Lyubomirsky has a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to conduct research on the possibility of permanently increasing happiness. “Trips aren’t all perfect,” she notes, “but we remember them as perfect.”
Another reason that scholars contend that experiences provide a bigger pop than things is that they can’t be absorbed in one gulp — it takes more time to adapt to them and engage with them than it does to put on a new leather jacket or turn on that shiny flat-screen TV.
“We buy a new house, we get accustomed to it,” says Professor Lyubomirsky, who studies what psychologists call “hedonic adaptation,” a phenomenon in which people quickly become used to changes, great or terrible, in order to maintain a stable level of happiness.
Over time, that means the buzz from a new purchase is pushed toward the emotional norm.
“We stop getting pleasure from it,” she says.
And then, of course, we buy new things.
When Ed Diener, a psychology professor at the University of Illinois and a former president of the International Positive Psychology Association — which promotes the study of what lets people lead fulfilling lives — was house-hunting with his wife, they saw several homes with features they liked.
But unlike couples who choose a house because of its open floor plan, fancy kitchens, great light, or spacious bedrooms, Professor Diener arrived at his decision after considering hedonic-adaptation research.
“One home was close to hiking trails, making going hiking very easy,” he said in an e-mail. “Thinking about the research, I argued that the hiking trails could be a factor contributing to our happiness, and we should worry less about things like how pretty the kitchen floor is or whether the sinks are fancy. We bought the home near the hiking trail and it has been great, and we haven’t tired of this feature because we take a walk four or five days a week.”
Scholars have discovered that one way consumers combat hedonic adaptation is to buy many small pleasures instead of one big one. Instead of a new Jaguar, Professor Lyubomirsky advises, buy a massage once a week, have lots of fresh flowers delivered and make phone calls to friends in Europe. Instead of a two-week long vacation, take a few three-day weekends.
“We do adapt to the little things,” she says, “but because there’s so many, it will take longer.”
BEFORE credit cards and cellphones enabled consumers to have almost anything they wanted at any time, the experience of shopping was richer, says Ms. Liebmann of WSL Strategic Retail. “You saved for it, you anticipated it,” she says.
In other words, waiting for something and working hard to get it made it feel more valuable and more stimulating.
In fact, scholars have found that anticipation increases happiness. Considering buying an iPad? You might want to think about it as long as possible before taking one home. Likewise about a Caribbean escape: you’ll get more pleasure if you book a flight in advance than if you book it at the last minute.
Once upon a time, with roots that go back to medieval marketplaces featuring stalls that functioned as stores, shopping offered a way to connect socially, as Ms. Liebmann and others have pointed out. But over the last decade, retailing came to be about one thing: unbridled acquisition, epitomized by big-box stores where the mantra was “stack ’em high and let ’em fly” and online transactions that required no social interaction at all — you didn’t even have to leave your home.
The recession, however, may force retailers to become reacquainted with shopping’s historical roots.
“I think there’s a real opportunity in retail to be able to romance the experience again,” says Ms. Liebmann. “Retailers are going to have to work very hard to create that emotional feeling again. And it can’t just be ‘Here’s another thing to buy.’ It has to have a real sense of experience to it.”
Industry professionals say they have difficulty identifying any retailer that is managing to do this well today, with one notable exception: Apple, which offers an interactive retail experience, including classes.
Marie Driscoll, head of the retailing group at Standard & Poor’s, says chains have to adapt to new consumer preferences by offering better service, special events and access to designers. Analysts at the Boston Consulting Group advise that companies offer more affordable indulgences, like video games that provide an at-home workout for far less than the cost of a gym membership.
Mr. Cohen of the NPD Group says some companies are doing this. Best Buy is promoting its Geek Squad, promising shoppers before they buy that complicated electronic thingamajig that its employees will hold their hands through the installation process and beyond.
“Nowadays with the economic climate, customers definitely are going for a quality experience,” says Nick DeVita, a home entertainment adviser with the Geek Squad. “If they’re going to spend their money, they want to make sure it’s for the right thing, the right service.”
With competition for consumer dollars fiercer than it’s been in decades, retailers have had to make the shopping experience more compelling. Mr. Cohen says automakers are offering 30-day test drives, while some clothing stores are promising free personal shoppers. Malls are providing day care while parents shop. Even on the Web, retailers are connecting on customers on Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare, hoping to win their loyalty by offering discounts and invitations to special events.
FOR the last four years, Roko Belic, a Los Angeles filmmaker, has been traveling the world making a documentary called “Happy.” Since beginning work on the film, he has moved to a beach in Malibu from his house in the San Francisco suburbs.
San Francisco was nice, but he couldn’t surf there.
“I moved to a trailer park,” says Mr. Belic, “which is the first real community that I’ve lived in in my life.” Now he surfs three or four times a week. “It definitely has made me happier,” he says. “The things we are trained to think make us happy, like having a new car every couple of years and buying the latest fashions, don’t make us happy.”
Mr. Belic says his documentary shows that “the one single trait that’s common among every single person who is happy is strong relationships.”
Buying luxury goods, conversely, tends to be an endless cycle of one-upmanship, in which the neighbors have a fancy new car and — bingo! — now you want one, too, scholars say. A study published in June in Psychological Science by Ms. Dunn and others found that wealth interfered with people’s ability to savor positive emotions and experiences, because having an embarrassment of riches reduced the ability to reap enjoyment from life’s smaller everyday pleasures, like eating a chocolate bar.
Alternatively, spending money on an event, like camping or a wine tasting with friends, leaves people less likely to compare their experiences with those of others — and, therefore, happier.
Of course, some fashion lovers beg to differ. For many people, clothes will never be more than utilitarian. But for a certain segment of the population, clothes are an art form, a means of self-expression, a way for families to pass down memories through generations. For them, studies concluding that people eventually stop deriving pleasure from material things don’t ring true.
“No way,” says Hayley Corwick, who writes the popular fashion blog Madison Avenue Spy. “I could pull out things from my closet that I bought when I was 17 that I still love.”
She rejects the idea that happiness has to be an either-or proposition. Some days, you want a trip, she says; other days, you want a Tom Ford handbag.
MS. STROBEL — our heroine who moved into the 400-square foot apartment — is now an advocate of simple living, writing in her spare time about her own life choices at Rowdykittens.com.
“My lifestyle now would not be possible if I still had a huge two-bedroom apartment filled to the gills with stuff, two cars, and 30 grand in debt,” she says.
“Give away some of your stuff,” she advises. “See how it feels.”
But Will It Make You Happy?
By STEPHANIE ROSENBLOOM
SHE had so much.
A two-bedroom apartment. Two cars. Enough wedding china to serve two dozen people.
Yet Tammy Strobel wasn’t happy. Working as a project manager with an investment management firm in Davis, Calif., and making about $40,000 a year, she was, as she put it, caught in the “work-spend treadmill.”
So one day she stepped off.
Inspired by books and blog entries about living simply, Ms. Strobel and her husband, Logan Smith, both 31, began donating some of their belongings to charity. As the months passed, out went stacks of sweaters, shoes, books, pots and pans, even the television after a trial separation during which it was relegated to a closet. Eventually, they got rid of their cars, too. Emboldened by a Web site that challenges consumers to live with just 100 personal items, Ms. Strobel winnowed down her wardrobe and toiletries to precisely that number.
Her mother called her crazy.
Today, three years after Ms. Strobel and Mr. Smith began downsizing, they live in Portland, Ore., in a spare, 400-square-foot studio with a nice-sized kitchen. Mr. Smith is completing a doctorate in physiology; Ms. Strobel happily works from home as a Web designer and freelance writer. She owns four plates, three pairs of shoes and two pots. With Mr. Smith in his final weeks of school, Ms. Strobel’s income of about $24,000 a year covers their bills. They are still car-free but have bikes. One other thing they no longer have: $30,000 of debt.
Ms. Strobel’s mother is impressed. Now the couple have money to travel and to contribute to the education funds of nieces and nephews. And because their debt is paid off, Ms. Strobel works fewer hours, giving her time to be outdoors, and to volunteer, which she does about four hours a week for a nonprofit outreach program called Living Yoga.
“The idea that you need to go bigger to be happy is false,” she says. “I really believe that the acquisition of material goods doesn’t bring about happiness.”
While Ms. Strobel and her husband overhauled their spending habits before the recession, legions of other consumers have since had to reconsider their own lifestyles, bringing a major shift in the nation’s consumption patterns.
“We’re moving from a conspicuous consumption — which is ‘buy without regard’ — to a calculated consumption,” says Marshal Cohen, an analyst at the NPD Group, the retailing research and consulting firm.
Amid weak job and housing markets, consumers are saving more and spending less than they have in decades, and industry professionals expect that trend to continue. Consumers saved 6.4 percent of their after-tax income in June, according to a new government report. Before the recession, the rate was 1 to 2 percent for many years. In June, consumer spending and personal incomes were essentially flat compared with May, suggesting that the American economy, as dependent as it is on shoppers opening their wallets and purses, isn’t likely to rebound anytime soon.
On the bright side, the practices that consumers have adopted in response to the economic crisis ultimately could — as a raft of new research suggests — make them happier. New studies of consumption and happiness show, for instance, that people are happier when they spend money on experiences instead of material objects, when they relish what they plan to buy long before they buy it, and when they stop trying to outdo the Joneses.
If consumers end up sticking with their newfound spending habits, some tactics that retailers and marketers began deploying during the recession could become lasting business strategies. Among those strategies are proffering merchandise that makes being at home more entertaining and trying to make consumers feel special by giving them access to exclusive events and more personal customer service.
While the current round of stinginess may simply be a response to the economic downturn, some analysts say consumers may also be permanently adjusting their spending based on what they’ve discovered about what truly makes them happy or fulfilled.
“This actually is a topic that hasn’t been researched very much until recently,” says Elizabeth W. Dunn, an associate professor in the psychology department at the University of British Columbia, who is at the forefront of research on consumption and happiness. “There’s massive literature on income and happiness. It’s amazing how little there is on how to spend your money.”
CONSPICUOUS consumption has been an object of fascination going back at least as far as 1899, when the economist Thorstein Veblen published “The Theory of the Leisure Class,” a book that analyzed, in part, how people spent their money in order to demonstrate their social status.
And it’s been a truism for eons that extra cash always makes life a little easier. Studies over the last few decades have shown that money, up to a certain point, makes people happier because it lets them meet basic needs. The latest round of research is, for lack of a better term, all about emotional efficiency: how to reap the most happiness for your dollar.
So just where does happiness reside for consumers? Scholars and researchers haven’t determined whether Armani will put a bigger smile on your face than Dolce & Gabbana. But they have found that our types of purchases, their size and frequency, and even the timing of the spending all affect long-term happiness.
One major finding is that spending money for an experience — concert tickets, French lessons, sushi-rolling classes, a hotel room in Monaco — produces longer-lasting satisfaction than spending money on plain old stuff.
“ ‘It’s better to go on a vacation than buy a new couch’ is basically the idea,” says Professor Dunn, summing up research by two fellow psychologists, Leaf Van Boven and Thomas Gilovich. Her own take on the subject is in a paper she wrote with colleagues at Harvard and the University of Virginia: “If Money Doesn’t Make You Happy Then You Probably Aren’t Spending It Right.” (The Journal of Consumer Psychology plans to publish it in a coming issue.)
Thomas DeLeire, an associate professor of public affairs, population, health and economics at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, recently published research examining nine major categories of consumption. He discovered that the only category to be positively related to happiness was leisure: vacations, entertainment, sports and equipment like golf clubs and fishing poles.
Using data from a study by the National Institute on Aging, Professor DeLeire compared the happiness derived from different levels of spending to the happiness people get from being married. (Studies have shown that marriage increases happiness.)
“A $20,000 increase in spending on leisure was roughly equivalent to the happiness boost one gets from marriage,” he said, adding that spending on leisure activities appeared to make people less lonely and increased their interactions with others.
According to retailers and analysts, consumers have gravitated more toward experiences than possessions over the last couple of years, opting to use their extra cash for nights at home with family, watching movies and playing games — or for “staycations” in the backyard. Many retailing professionals think this is not a fad, but rather “the new normal.”
“I think many of these changes are permanent changes,” says Jennifer Black, president of the retailing research company Jennifer Black & Associates and a member of the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisors in Oregon. “I think people are realizing they don’t need what they had. They’re more interested in creating memories.”
She largely attributes this to baby boomers’ continuing concerns about the job market and their ability to send their children to college. While they will still spend, they will spend less, she said, having reset their priorities.
While it is unlikely that most consumers will downsize as much as Ms. Strobel did, many have been, well, happily surprised by the pleasures of living a little more simply. The Boston Consulting Group said in a June report that recession anxiety had prompted a “back-to-basics movement,” with things like home and family increasing in importance over the last two years, while things like luxury and status have declined.
“There’s been an emotional rebirth connected to acquiring things that’s really come out of this recession,” says Wendy Liebmann, chief executive of WSL Strategic Retail, a marketing consulting firm that works with manufacturers and retailers. “We hear people talking about the desire not to lose that — that connection, the moment, the family, the experience.”
Current research suggests that, unlike consumption of material goods, spending on leisure and services typically strengthens social bonds, which in turn helps amplify happiness. (Academics are already in broad agreement that there is a strong correlation between the quality of people’s relationships and their happiness; hence, anything that promotes stronger social bonds has a good chance of making us feel all warm and fuzzy.)
And the creation of complex, sophisticated relationships is a rare thing in the world. As Professor Dunn and her colleagues Daniel T. Gilbert and Timothy D. Wilson point out in their forthcoming paper, only termites, naked mole rats and certain insects like ants and bees construct social networks as complex as those of human beings. In that elite little club, humans are the only ones who shop.
AT the height of the recession in 2008, Wal-Mart Stores realized that consumers were “cocooning” — vacationing in their yards, eating more dinners at home, organizing family game nights. So it responded by grouping items in its stores that would turn any den into an at-home movie theater or transform a backyard into a slice of the Catskills. Wal-Mart wasn’t just selling barbecues and board games. It was selling experiences.
“We spend a lot of time listening to our customers,” says Amy Lester, a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart, “and know that they have a set amount to spend and need to juggle to meet that amount.”
One reason that paying for experiences gives us longer-lasting happiness is that we can reminisce about them, researchers say. That’s true for even the most middling of experiences. That trip to Rome during which you waited in endless lines, broke your camera and argued with your spouse will typically be airbrushed with “rosy recollection,” says Sonja Lyubomirsky, a psychology professor at the University of California, Riverside.
Professor Lyubomirsky has a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to conduct research on the possibility of permanently increasing happiness. “Trips aren’t all perfect,” she notes, “but we remember them as perfect.”
Another reason that scholars contend that experiences provide a bigger pop than things is that they can’t be absorbed in one gulp — it takes more time to adapt to them and engage with them than it does to put on a new leather jacket or turn on that shiny flat-screen TV.
“We buy a new house, we get accustomed to it,” says Professor Lyubomirsky, who studies what psychologists call “hedonic adaptation,” a phenomenon in which people quickly become used to changes, great or terrible, in order to maintain a stable level of happiness.
Over time, that means the buzz from a new purchase is pushed toward the emotional norm.
“We stop getting pleasure from it,” she says.
And then, of course, we buy new things.
When Ed Diener, a psychology professor at the University of Illinois and a former president of the International Positive Psychology Association — which promotes the study of what lets people lead fulfilling lives — was house-hunting with his wife, they saw several homes with features they liked.
But unlike couples who choose a house because of its open floor plan, fancy kitchens, great light, or spacious bedrooms, Professor Diener arrived at his decision after considering hedonic-adaptation research.
“One home was close to hiking trails, making going hiking very easy,” he said in an e-mail. “Thinking about the research, I argued that the hiking trails could be a factor contributing to our happiness, and we should worry less about things like how pretty the kitchen floor is or whether the sinks are fancy. We bought the home near the hiking trail and it has been great, and we haven’t tired of this feature because we take a walk four or five days a week.”
Scholars have discovered that one way consumers combat hedonic adaptation is to buy many small pleasures instead of one big one. Instead of a new Jaguar, Professor Lyubomirsky advises, buy a massage once a week, have lots of fresh flowers delivered and make phone calls to friends in Europe. Instead of a two-week long vacation, take a few three-day weekends.
“We do adapt to the little things,” she says, “but because there’s so many, it will take longer.”
BEFORE credit cards and cellphones enabled consumers to have almost anything they wanted at any time, the experience of shopping was richer, says Ms. Liebmann of WSL Strategic Retail. “You saved for it, you anticipated it,” she says.
In other words, waiting for something and working hard to get it made it feel more valuable and more stimulating.
In fact, scholars have found that anticipation increases happiness. Considering buying an iPad? You might want to think about it as long as possible before taking one home. Likewise about a Caribbean escape: you’ll get more pleasure if you book a flight in advance than if you book it at the last minute.
Once upon a time, with roots that go back to medieval marketplaces featuring stalls that functioned as stores, shopping offered a way to connect socially, as Ms. Liebmann and others have pointed out. But over the last decade, retailing came to be about one thing: unbridled acquisition, epitomized by big-box stores where the mantra was “stack ’em high and let ’em fly” and online transactions that required no social interaction at all — you didn’t even have to leave your home.
The recession, however, may force retailers to become reacquainted with shopping’s historical roots.
“I think there’s a real opportunity in retail to be able to romance the experience again,” says Ms. Liebmann. “Retailers are going to have to work very hard to create that emotional feeling again. And it can’t just be ‘Here’s another thing to buy.’ It has to have a real sense of experience to it.”
Industry professionals say they have difficulty identifying any retailer that is managing to do this well today, with one notable exception: Apple, which offers an interactive retail experience, including classes.
Marie Driscoll, head of the retailing group at Standard & Poor’s, says chains have to adapt to new consumer preferences by offering better service, special events and access to designers. Analysts at the Boston Consulting Group advise that companies offer more affordable indulgences, like video games that provide an at-home workout for far less than the cost of a gym membership.
Mr. Cohen of the NPD Group says some companies are doing this. Best Buy is promoting its Geek Squad, promising shoppers before they buy that complicated electronic thingamajig that its employees will hold their hands through the installation process and beyond.
“Nowadays with the economic climate, customers definitely are going for a quality experience,” says Nick DeVita, a home entertainment adviser with the Geek Squad. “If they’re going to spend their money, they want to make sure it’s for the right thing, the right service.”
With competition for consumer dollars fiercer than it’s been in decades, retailers have had to make the shopping experience more compelling. Mr. Cohen says automakers are offering 30-day test drives, while some clothing stores are promising free personal shoppers. Malls are providing day care while parents shop. Even on the Web, retailers are connecting on customers on Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare, hoping to win their loyalty by offering discounts and invitations to special events.
FOR the last four years, Roko Belic, a Los Angeles filmmaker, has been traveling the world making a documentary called “Happy.” Since beginning work on the film, he has moved to a beach in Malibu from his house in the San Francisco suburbs.
San Francisco was nice, but he couldn’t surf there.
“I moved to a trailer park,” says Mr. Belic, “which is the first real community that I’ve lived in in my life.” Now he surfs three or four times a week. “It definitely has made me happier,” he says. “The things we are trained to think make us happy, like having a new car every couple of years and buying the latest fashions, don’t make us happy.”
Mr. Belic says his documentary shows that “the one single trait that’s common among every single person who is happy is strong relationships.”
Buying luxury goods, conversely, tends to be an endless cycle of one-upmanship, in which the neighbors have a fancy new car and — bingo! — now you want one, too, scholars say. A study published in June in Psychological Science by Ms. Dunn and others found that wealth interfered with people’s ability to savor positive emotions and experiences, because having an embarrassment of riches reduced the ability to reap enjoyment from life’s smaller everyday pleasures, like eating a chocolate bar.
Alternatively, spending money on an event, like camping or a wine tasting with friends, leaves people less likely to compare their experiences with those of others — and, therefore, happier.
Of course, some fashion lovers beg to differ. For many people, clothes will never be more than utilitarian. But for a certain segment of the population, clothes are an art form, a means of self-expression, a way for families to pass down memories through generations. For them, studies concluding that people eventually stop deriving pleasure from material things don’t ring true.
“No way,” says Hayley Corwick, who writes the popular fashion blog Madison Avenue Spy. “I could pull out things from my closet that I bought when I was 17 that I still love.”
She rejects the idea that happiness has to be an either-or proposition. Some days, you want a trip, she says; other days, you want a Tom Ford handbag.
MS. STROBEL — our heroine who moved into the 400-square foot apartment — is now an advocate of simple living, writing in her spare time about her own life choices at Rowdykittens.com.
“My lifestyle now would not be possible if I still had a huge two-bedroom apartment filled to the gills with stuff, two cars, and 30 grand in debt,” she says.
“Give away some of your stuff,” she advises. “See how it feels.”
selesai, sudah 080810
Ex-HP CEO Mark Hurd settled with contractor
12:42am EDT
By Gabriel Madway
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard Co's former chief executive officer Mark Hurd has reached a legal settlement with the woman who accused him of sexual harassment, and she has also agreed to release HP from legal claims, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The world's No. 1 computer maker stunned Wall Street and Silicon Valley on Friday by announcing Hurd's resignation, accusing him of falsifying expense reports to conceal a "close personal relationship" with a female contractor.
The unidentified woman told HP's board in June that Hurd had sexually harassed her, but an investigation found no violation of the company's sexual harassment policy, HP said.
The contractor, who did marketing work for HP from 2007 to 2009, did not have sexual relations with Hurd, according to her lawyer Gloria Allred, a high-profile attorney who often works with celebrity clients.
"Mark has settled the matter with the woman," said one source who was briefed on the matter. This person said the settlement included a payment, but the amount was not disclosed.
Another source with knowledge of the matter said HP was given a "release" by the contractor, and that the company had not paid her any money. This person also said Hurd had settled the matter. Both sources spoke on condition of anonymity.
Allred declined to comment.
According to sources, the contractor helped plan, market and host events for the office of the CEO. She made the sexual harassment charges on June 29 in a letter addressed to Hurd that came to his office.
The board then ordered an investigation, which found inaccurate expense reports filed by Hurd or on his behalf, and instances where the contractor received compensation for no legitimate business purpose, HP has said.
DISPUTED EVENTS
HP said Hurd's actions, while trivial in financial terms, represented a systematic violation of the company's trust and ethical standards -- serious enough to oust a charismatic and widely admired executive credited with resuscitating HP.
Hurd himself, who is 53 and married with two children, said in a statement on Friday that he had not lived up to his own standards of integrity. He could not be reached for comment.
The details surrounding Hurd's expense account improprieties are in dispute.
Some close to HP's board have portrayed Hurd's various meetings with the contractor as highly unusual for the CEO of a $100 billion company. But others close to Hurd's camp say the two were "business acquaintances" whose meetings were completely above board, and that Hurd never tried to conceal them.
According to sources, the woman was interviewed twice by Hurd, in August and September of 2007, prior to being hired.
The first time was in Los Angeles. For the second interview, the woman was flown to Denver, where Hurd was staying, and the two dined together.
After she was hired, the contractor worked at more than a dozen events in a number of different locales, some overseas. After these events, she often had dinner with Hurd.
However, the expenses submitted by Hurd in some instances did not reflect her being there. Instead, they stated that he dined alone, or in some cases with his bodyguard, said one of the sources familiar with HP's investigation.
This person said on "a couple" of occasions, the contractor was paid fees and travel expenses to attend an event where none was held, but at a location where Hurd was staying.
A source familiar with Hurd's account of the situation, said there were expense irregularities, in part because Hurd's expenses were filed by his assistant, who did not necessarily know who was in attendance at a certain meal.
This person maintained that the woman did sometimes appear on expense reports, and sometimes Hurd paid for the meals himself, if no business was discussed.
On one occasion, the woman was paid for an event that never took place because Hurd got sick and the event was canceled at the last minute, this source said.
Hurd offered to reimburse the company for the expenses, which amounted to no more than $20,000 over a two-year period, the source said.
News of Hurd's resignation sent HP shares plunging 10 percent as he was one of the most respected executives in Silicon Valley. Chief Financial Officer Cathie Lesjak will take over while HP looks for a permanent CEO.
Hurd, who received nearly $100 million in compensation over the past three years, will get a severance payment of $12.2 million from HP.
(Reporting by Gabriel Madway; Editing by Tiffany Wu and Eric Walsh)
12:42am EDT
By Gabriel Madway
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard Co's former chief executive officer Mark Hurd has reached a legal settlement with the woman who accused him of sexual harassment, and she has also agreed to release HP from legal claims, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The world's No. 1 computer maker stunned Wall Street and Silicon Valley on Friday by announcing Hurd's resignation, accusing him of falsifying expense reports to conceal a "close personal relationship" with a female contractor.
The unidentified woman told HP's board in June that Hurd had sexually harassed her, but an investigation found no violation of the company's sexual harassment policy, HP said.
The contractor, who did marketing work for HP from 2007 to 2009, did not have sexual relations with Hurd, according to her lawyer Gloria Allred, a high-profile attorney who often works with celebrity clients.
"Mark has settled the matter with the woman," said one source who was briefed on the matter. This person said the settlement included a payment, but the amount was not disclosed.
Another source with knowledge of the matter said HP was given a "release" by the contractor, and that the company had not paid her any money. This person also said Hurd had settled the matter. Both sources spoke on condition of anonymity.
Allred declined to comment.
According to sources, the contractor helped plan, market and host events for the office of the CEO. She made the sexual harassment charges on June 29 in a letter addressed to Hurd that came to his office.
The board then ordered an investigation, which found inaccurate expense reports filed by Hurd or on his behalf, and instances where the contractor received compensation for no legitimate business purpose, HP has said.
DISPUTED EVENTS
HP said Hurd's actions, while trivial in financial terms, represented a systematic violation of the company's trust and ethical standards -- serious enough to oust a charismatic and widely admired executive credited with resuscitating HP.
Hurd himself, who is 53 and married with two children, said in a statement on Friday that he had not lived up to his own standards of integrity. He could not be reached for comment.
The details surrounding Hurd's expense account improprieties are in dispute.
Some close to HP's board have portrayed Hurd's various meetings with the contractor as highly unusual for the CEO of a $100 billion company. But others close to Hurd's camp say the two were "business acquaintances" whose meetings were completely above board, and that Hurd never tried to conceal them.
According to sources, the woman was interviewed twice by Hurd, in August and September of 2007, prior to being hired.
The first time was in Los Angeles. For the second interview, the woman was flown to Denver, where Hurd was staying, and the two dined together.
After she was hired, the contractor worked at more than a dozen events in a number of different locales, some overseas. After these events, she often had dinner with Hurd.
However, the expenses submitted by Hurd in some instances did not reflect her being there. Instead, they stated that he dined alone, or in some cases with his bodyguard, said one of the sources familiar with HP's investigation.
This person said on "a couple" of occasions, the contractor was paid fees and travel expenses to attend an event where none was held, but at a location where Hurd was staying.
A source familiar with Hurd's account of the situation, said there were expense irregularities, in part because Hurd's expenses were filed by his assistant, who did not necessarily know who was in attendance at a certain meal.
This person maintained that the woman did sometimes appear on expense reports, and sometimes Hurd paid for the meals himself, if no business was discussed.
On one occasion, the woman was paid for an event that never took place because Hurd got sick and the event was canceled at the last minute, this source said.
Hurd offered to reimburse the company for the expenses, which amounted to no more than $20,000 over a two-year period, the source said.
News of Hurd's resignation sent HP shares plunging 10 percent as he was one of the most respected executives in Silicon Valley. Chief Financial Officer Cathie Lesjak will take over while HP looks for a permanent CEO.
Hurd, who received nearly $100 million in compensation over the past three years, will get a severance payment of $12.2 million from HP.
(Reporting by Gabriel Madway; Editing by Tiffany Wu and Eric Walsh)
kekerasan agamais (2)
Romo Magnis Kecam Pembakaran Al Quran
Kamis, 5 Agustus 2010 | 17:21 WIB
KOMPAS/AGUS SUSANTO
Franz Magnis-Suseno, Guru Besar Filsafat Sekolah Tinggi Filsafat Driyarkara Jakarta
JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com — Tokoh Katolik Romo Franz Magnis Suseno mengecam rencana aksi pembakaran kitab suci Al Quran oleh kelompok Dove World Outreach Center pimpinan Pendeta Senior Sylvia Jones, yang berkantor di Florida, Amerika Serikat.
"Itu kepicikan luar biasa. Sangat memalukan komunitas itu," kata Romo Magnis di Jakarta, Kamis (5/8/2010).
Menurut dia, kegiatan seperti itu merupakan fundamentalisme yang sebetulnya harus diberantas, yaitu paham agama yang mendapati identitasnya dengan memusuhi dan menghina agama lain.
Ia mengatakan, tindakan membakar kitab suci merupakan penghinaan terhadap agama dan para pemeluk agama.
Selain itu, tindakan tersebut juga menunjukkan adanya ketidakstabilan psikologi dalam menghadapi perbedaan.
Menurut dia, untuk mencegah dampak luas dari aksi pembakaran kitab suci tersebut sepantasnya jangan diberi tempat dan kesempatan untuk dipublikasikan.
Menurut dia, di zaman internet ini, mudahnya akses terhadap semua hal termasuk informasi dan provokasi menjadi masalahnya.
Untuk itu, kata dia, semua sebaiknya tetap tenang dan tidak perlu emosional.
"Menurut saya, hendaknya kita melihatnya dengan tenang saja. Jangan karena orang-orang yang sangat picik dan kolot itu melakukan sesuatu yang tidak benar kita sendiri menjadi emosional," katanya.
Editor: bnj | Sumber : ANT
Kamis, 5 Agustus 2010 | 17:21 WIB
KOMPAS/AGUS SUSANTO
Franz Magnis-Suseno, Guru Besar Filsafat Sekolah Tinggi Filsafat Driyarkara Jakarta
JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com — Tokoh Katolik Romo Franz Magnis Suseno mengecam rencana aksi pembakaran kitab suci Al Quran oleh kelompok Dove World Outreach Center pimpinan Pendeta Senior Sylvia Jones, yang berkantor di Florida, Amerika Serikat.
"Itu kepicikan luar biasa. Sangat memalukan komunitas itu," kata Romo Magnis di Jakarta, Kamis (5/8/2010).
Menurut dia, kegiatan seperti itu merupakan fundamentalisme yang sebetulnya harus diberantas, yaitu paham agama yang mendapati identitasnya dengan memusuhi dan menghina agama lain.
Ia mengatakan, tindakan membakar kitab suci merupakan penghinaan terhadap agama dan para pemeluk agama.
Selain itu, tindakan tersebut juga menunjukkan adanya ketidakstabilan psikologi dalam menghadapi perbedaan.
Menurut dia, untuk mencegah dampak luas dari aksi pembakaran kitab suci tersebut sepantasnya jangan diberi tempat dan kesempatan untuk dipublikasikan.
Menurut dia, di zaman internet ini, mudahnya akses terhadap semua hal termasuk informasi dan provokasi menjadi masalahnya.
Untuk itu, kata dia, semua sebaiknya tetap tenang dan tidak perlu emosional.
"Menurut saya, hendaknya kita melihatnya dengan tenang saja. Jangan karena orang-orang yang sangat picik dan kolot itu melakukan sesuatu yang tidak benar kita sendiri menjadi emosional," katanya.
Editor: bnj | Sumber : ANT
kekerasan agamais
Minggu, 08/08/2010 18:37 WIB
Insiden Penyerangan Jemaat HKBP
Setara Institute Desak Polisi Bertindak Tegas Hentikan Kekerasan
Irwan Nugroho - detikNews
Jakarta - Setara Institute menyesalkan terjadinya aksi penyerangan kepada jemaat HKBP di Pondok Timur, Bekasi, Jawa Barat, pagi tadi. Polisi diminta bertindak tegas dalam menghentikan aksi kekerasan tersebut.
"Polri harus menghentikan aksi anarkis massa dan memberikan perlindungan penuh pada setiap kegiatan ibadah," kata Manajer Program Setara, Ismail Hasani, dalam rilis yang diterima detikcom, Minggu (8/8/2010).
Menurut Ismail, saat terjadi pengejaran dan pemukulan terhadap jemaat HKBP, polisi tidak memberikan perlindungan yang memadai. Dengan jumlah 100-an aparat di bawah komando Kapolresta Bekasi, semestinya polisi mampu menghalau serangan massa yang berjumlah sekitar 150-an orang.
"Tidak ada alasan bahwa aparat tidak mencukupi dalam peristiwa ini. Yang jelas pendeta dan sekitar 11 jemaat mendapati serangan dalam bentuk pemukulan dan pengejaran dari warga," katanya.
Ismail mengaku heran bagaimana mungkin penyelenggara negara tunduk pada penghakiman massa kecil yang anarkis dan membiarkan warga negara tidak bisa melakukan ibadah. Hukum harus bekerja dan memaksa setiap orang yang melakukan kekerasan ditindak sehingga menimbulkan efek jera.
"Presiden Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono harus memerintahkan Kapolri untuk menindak tegas serangan dalam kelompok massa yang telah berulang kali melakukan kekerasan di Bekasi," imbaunya.
(irw/fay)
FPI Bantah Serang Jemaat HKBP Bekasi
Selama Ramadhan tidak ada instruksi dari pusat ke daerah-daerah untuk melakukan aksi.
MINGGU, 8 AGUSTUS 2010, 13:01 WIB Amril Amarullah
FPI melakukan konvoi dengan kendaraan bermotor. (www.fpi.or.id)
BERITA TERKAIT
Kehadiran Fauzi Bowo di Milad FPI Disesalkan
FPI: Tuntaskan Century, Bubarkan Ahmadiyah
Rizieq: Tak Ada Sweeping FPI Selama Ramadan
Rizieq: FPI Bukan Musuh Polisi dan Pemerintah
Foke: FPI Tak Perlu Razia Tempat Hiburan
VIVAnews - Front Pembela Islam (FPI) menyatakan dengan tegas, aksi penyerangan terhadap jemaat gereja Huria Kristen Batak Protestan (HKBP) Pondok Indah Timur, di Kampung Ciketing Asem, Kecamatan Mustika Jaya, Kota Bekasi, Jawa Barat, bukan dilakukan anggotanya.
Menurut Habib Noval, yang benar adalah penyerangan dilakukan oleh warga, bukan FPI. "Tidak ada dari FPI. Tidak benar kabar tersebut. Itu masyarakat biasa," ujar Habib Noval, Sekretaris FPI Jakarta kepada VIVAnews, Minggu 8 Agustus 2010.
Apalagi, menurutnya, selama Ramadan, tidak ada instruksi dari pusat ke daerah-daerah untuk melakukan aksi baik itu penggerebekan, penyerangan atau aksi lainnya. FPI, lanjut Noval, berusaha mengikuti instruksi pemerintah dan tidak akan melakukan razia apapun.
"Selama Ramadan saya tegaskan, termasuk hari ini atas nama FPI seluruh Indonesia tidak akan turun, dan mengikuti instruksi pemerintah," tuturnya. Jadi, lanjut dia, kalau ada kabar yang mengatakan bahwa aksi di Bekasi dilakukan oleh FPI adalah berita bohong.
Sementara Rumadi, peneliti dari Wahid Institute menerima laporan bahwa para jemaat HKBP ini didatangi oleh sekelompok orang saat menjalankan ibadah pagi ini, tetapi sempat dihalau oleh polisi.
"Hari ini, mereka diintimidasi kembali," kata dia kepada VIVAnews di Jakarta, Minggu, 8 Agustus 2010. Rumadi bersama rekan-rekan yang aktif di kebebasan beragama mengaku terus memantau perkembangan kasus ini.
Menurut Rumadi, sesungguhnya intimidasi kegiatan beragama sudah dilakukan sejak sebulan lalu. Ketika itu, jemaat HKBP yang berjumlah sekitar 100 orang melaksanakan kegiatan ibadah di Pondok Indah Timur di Bekasi. Kemudian, karena tidak nyaman, mereka membeli tanah dan pindah menjalankan ibadah di lokasi tersebut. (hs)
• VIVAnews
Insiden Penyerangan Jemaat HKBP
Setara Institute Desak Polisi Bertindak Tegas Hentikan Kekerasan
Irwan Nugroho - detikNews
Jakarta - Setara Institute menyesalkan terjadinya aksi penyerangan kepada jemaat HKBP di Pondok Timur, Bekasi, Jawa Barat, pagi tadi. Polisi diminta bertindak tegas dalam menghentikan aksi kekerasan tersebut.
"Polri harus menghentikan aksi anarkis massa dan memberikan perlindungan penuh pada setiap kegiatan ibadah," kata Manajer Program Setara, Ismail Hasani, dalam rilis yang diterima detikcom, Minggu (8/8/2010).
Menurut Ismail, saat terjadi pengejaran dan pemukulan terhadap jemaat HKBP, polisi tidak memberikan perlindungan yang memadai. Dengan jumlah 100-an aparat di bawah komando Kapolresta Bekasi, semestinya polisi mampu menghalau serangan massa yang berjumlah sekitar 150-an orang.
"Tidak ada alasan bahwa aparat tidak mencukupi dalam peristiwa ini. Yang jelas pendeta dan sekitar 11 jemaat mendapati serangan dalam bentuk pemukulan dan pengejaran dari warga," katanya.
Ismail mengaku heran bagaimana mungkin penyelenggara negara tunduk pada penghakiman massa kecil yang anarkis dan membiarkan warga negara tidak bisa melakukan ibadah. Hukum harus bekerja dan memaksa setiap orang yang melakukan kekerasan ditindak sehingga menimbulkan efek jera.
"Presiden Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono harus memerintahkan Kapolri untuk menindak tegas serangan dalam kelompok massa yang telah berulang kali melakukan kekerasan di Bekasi," imbaunya.
(irw/fay)
FPI Bantah Serang Jemaat HKBP Bekasi
Selama Ramadhan tidak ada instruksi dari pusat ke daerah-daerah untuk melakukan aksi.
MINGGU, 8 AGUSTUS 2010, 13:01 WIB Amril Amarullah
FPI melakukan konvoi dengan kendaraan bermotor. (www.fpi.or.id)
BERITA TERKAIT
Kehadiran Fauzi Bowo di Milad FPI Disesalkan
FPI: Tuntaskan Century, Bubarkan Ahmadiyah
Rizieq: Tak Ada Sweeping FPI Selama Ramadan
Rizieq: FPI Bukan Musuh Polisi dan Pemerintah
Foke: FPI Tak Perlu Razia Tempat Hiburan
VIVAnews - Front Pembela Islam (FPI) menyatakan dengan tegas, aksi penyerangan terhadap jemaat gereja Huria Kristen Batak Protestan (HKBP) Pondok Indah Timur, di Kampung Ciketing Asem, Kecamatan Mustika Jaya, Kota Bekasi, Jawa Barat, bukan dilakukan anggotanya.
Menurut Habib Noval, yang benar adalah penyerangan dilakukan oleh warga, bukan FPI. "Tidak ada dari FPI. Tidak benar kabar tersebut. Itu masyarakat biasa," ujar Habib Noval, Sekretaris FPI Jakarta kepada VIVAnews, Minggu 8 Agustus 2010.
Apalagi, menurutnya, selama Ramadan, tidak ada instruksi dari pusat ke daerah-daerah untuk melakukan aksi baik itu penggerebekan, penyerangan atau aksi lainnya. FPI, lanjut Noval, berusaha mengikuti instruksi pemerintah dan tidak akan melakukan razia apapun.
"Selama Ramadan saya tegaskan, termasuk hari ini atas nama FPI seluruh Indonesia tidak akan turun, dan mengikuti instruksi pemerintah," tuturnya. Jadi, lanjut dia, kalau ada kabar yang mengatakan bahwa aksi di Bekasi dilakukan oleh FPI adalah berita bohong.
Sementara Rumadi, peneliti dari Wahid Institute menerima laporan bahwa para jemaat HKBP ini didatangi oleh sekelompok orang saat menjalankan ibadah pagi ini, tetapi sempat dihalau oleh polisi.
"Hari ini, mereka diintimidasi kembali," kata dia kepada VIVAnews di Jakarta, Minggu, 8 Agustus 2010. Rumadi bersama rekan-rekan yang aktif di kebebasan beragama mengaku terus memantau perkembangan kasus ini.
Menurut Rumadi, sesungguhnya intimidasi kegiatan beragama sudah dilakukan sejak sebulan lalu. Ketika itu, jemaat HKBP yang berjumlah sekitar 100 orang melaksanakan kegiatan ibadah di Pondok Indah Timur di Bekasi. Kemudian, karena tidak nyaman, mereka membeli tanah dan pindah menjalankan ibadah di lokasi tersebut. (hs)
• VIVAnews
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