Making Writing ‘Viral’
The name Maximus Masan Kian is very familiar among the people of East Flores. He writes blogs on all the public issues he finds, passing on his passion for writing through the students and teachers in East Flores.
The name Maximus Masan Kian is very familiar among the people of East Flores. The teacher appears in many blogs that cover a variety of problems. He writes blogs on all the public issues he finds, passing on his passion for writing through the students and teachers in East Flores.
Masan, who works as a teacher, said that he started blogging actively in 2014. He writes on the various problems the people of East Flores face, from damaged roads, difficulties in obtaining clean water and accessing electricity, poor sanitation, poor bureaucratic services, failed harvests and the tales of sadness of teachers in the interior.
He also writes about the regional potential of East Flores, such as Lake Asmara, Semana Santa, customary rituals in every village, the meaning behind every traditional house in each village and the Lamaholot custom of capturing women as wives, as well as Lamaholot’s pre- and post-harvest traditions. "When an idea or inspiration arises, I immediately write it down. If it is ignored, it will disappear," said Masan on Wednesday (28/3/2018) in Larantuka, East Flores.
The Association of Indonesian Teachers Writers (Agupena) in East Flores, which was established in 2006, saw Masan\'s prolific writing. Agupena caretaker Thomas Sogen invited Masan to become a member of the association. Through the organization, Masan has become more productive on his personal blogs.
Masan is not only enthusiastic about writing, but also invites students and teachers to write about anything, such as fishing, working in the fields, planting trees around Lake Asmara and school activities. Their writings are all uploaded to Agupena\'s blog and Facebook. After seeing their writings on blogs and social media, the students and teachers have become even more enthusiastic about writing.
Masan then invited 14 teachers at SMPN elementary school in Riangpuho, where he also teaches, to join Agupena and become part of the community of teachers passionate about writing. To spread the “writing virus” further, Masan sent letters to the teachers at a number of secondary schools in East Flores to join Agupena.
"The number of Agupena members in East Flores is now around 180 people, but only 32 actively write on social media or in print media and attend regular discussions. Nineteen districts in East Flores are represented in Agupena. The members are mostly young people who are still enthusiastic about writing and share the same vision and mission on the benefits of writing and reading," Masan said.
He also teaches the members how to write on an issue. The formula is simple, covering what, who, when, where and how. However, the writing should make people feel amazed, curious and eager to follow.
Through Agupena, dozens of member teachers who could not produce formal writing before can now write opinion pieces in print media and publish scientific articles – one of the professional requirements of promotion. Their articles are published in local print media and on social media.
Masan encourages junior and senior high school students to publish a wall magazine. Nearly 50 percent of secondary schools in East Flores now have wall magazines. The students work hard to write for the wall magazines, and some of them have also sent their writings to local media such as Pos Kupang and Flores Pos.
"I also introduced a poetry reading contest for the students, competitions to produce summaries of articles, and coloring and painting contests. The winning pieces are announced during the flag raising ceremonies, when their prizes are handed out. This was done to support the schools’ literacy movement among students," he said.
Fransiska Lolita Prada Ruron, 13, one of the junior high school students Masan trained, won a 2017 scholarship from the Culture and Education Ministry. She wrote about the poor sanitation in a number of rural villages in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT). Thanks to her writing, she was also named the national sanitation ambassador.
Today, all students and teachers in East Flores, even in NTT, know about Agupena. The teachers have also started to write actively. Masan is invited to every literacy event that is held in NTT, as well as to others outside the province, through which he shares his experience in literacy.
Nomadic
After he graduated from Widya Mandira Catholic University (Unwira) Kupang in 2009, Masan decided to become a teacher at the request of the Unwira rector. Initially, he taught at the SMK Suradewa and the SMK Bina Karya vocational schools in Larantuka, East Flores. "I taught at the two SMKs in a single year, only six months at each school," said Masan.
In 2009, he successfully applied for a civil servant teaching position. He was then assigned to SMPN Pati Beda junior high school in Demon Pagong district, where he taught for three years. After that, he was transferred to SMPN Satu Atap (Satap) Watan Hura senior high school on Solor Island. At the school, which was located far from Larantuka, Masan began to practice his writing skills and published a 40-page book on East Flores folklore.
In 2014, he was transferred to SMPN Wulublolong junior high school in Solor, 15 kilometers from Watan Hura, where he worked for eight months. He was transferred yet again to SMP Satap Riang Puho junior high school in a remote area in East Flores. There, he blogged non-stop on social issues ranging from teachers’ welfare to damaged roads, from poor phone signals to the lack of healthcare workers at community health centers, and from failed harvests to poor bureaucracy.
He does not care which school he is appointed to, because he will continue to practice his writing skills and pass them on to others no matter where he works. Today, he holds a gathering for Agupena members every Saturday evening on the porch of his house to talk about education and to discuss literacy among teachers, students and the community.
The teachers bring chairs, snacks and mineral water to the gathering and even run a collection to raise money for buying a computer or data packages. They learn about the world of the internet, create content for Agupena East Flores blogs, fill applications and write emails.
Masan thinks that teachers should know about the online world in order to teach and guide students, particularly amid the many fake news and hoaxes that have left many people confused.
Maksimus Masan Kian:
Born: Honihama, East Flores, Jan. 9, 1986
Wife: Agenitis da Noa
Children: Ian Boleng; Ama Doni; Literatio
Education: Bachelor’s degree, Widya Mandira Catholic University, Kupang, 2009
Occupation: Biology teacher, SMPN 1 Lewolema junior high school, East Flores
Awards: Agupena 2017 Most Creative Teacher from the Culture and Education Ministry; Recognition from the Agupena East Flores creative and literacy education organization
Books & Other Writing: East Flores folklore collection; Ujung Pena Guru Kampung (The Pen of a Kampung Teacher); Revolusi Mental ala Guru (Mental Revolution, the Teacher\'s Way)