A Life’s Career from ‘Journeying to the West’

KOMPAS/FERGANATA INDRA RIATMOKO

Ashadi Siregar

Ashadi Siregar looked refreshed. At his home in Minomartani, Sleman, Yogyakarta, the father of two, who was born in 1945, spoke calmly, clearly and steadily.

This is characteristic of Bang Hadi, as he is widely known. He is a “professor” in matters related to journalism, media communications and social culture.

He is “professor”, because Ashadi is not a formal professor. Technically, he has met the requirement to become a professor, with his academic capability and his job teaching communication studies at the School of Social and Political Sciences at Gadjah Mada University (UGM).

His colleagues acknowledged this. “The capability of a teacher and lecturer is often viewed not from the formal capacity in a field of study. For decades, as a lecturer of Communication Studies, Bang Hadi has been acknowledged on and off campus as a media and communications expert, [but] without a top academic degree,” said UGM Communication Studies head Budhy K Zaman in the prologue of Ashadi Siregar: Penjaga Akal Sehat dari Kampus Biru (Ashadi Siregar: Guardian of Conscience from the Blue Campus). It was a book Ashadi’s students had dedicated to him when he entered retirement age eight years ago.

Ashadi has only an undergraduate degree. “I don’t need status. My brain is more important. As long as students respect my ideas and are willing to improve themselves, for me, that’s all. I keep on learning,” he said.

As a lecturer since 1970, he had many opportunities to continue his studies toward a higher degree. However, his free and independent spirit had prevented him from doing so. “Continuing my studies abroad required money. It meant I had to find funding and beg for it. Begging for other people would be fine. But begging for myself, no thanks,” he said.

In the early 1980s, Ashadi established the Yogya Publishing and Education Research Institute (LP3Y) with colleagues. Through the LP3Y, Ashadi, who is also a novelist, teaches people about journalism.

A retired teacher who will turn 73 in July, Ashadi is technologically literate. He runs a weblog bearing his name: https://ashadisiregar.com. Reading his blog posts, we become aware of Ashadi’s personality. He writes about his resume, his academic and fictional writing, his awards, his professional experience, his academic activities, papers and even class lecture notes that outline clear concepts. They show his dedication to journalism and media communication.

Pursuing his career through the typewriter era, and on through the computer era and digital revolution has not been a problem. He enjoyed it, but from a distance.

Ashadi has a Facebook account and is part of several WhatsApp groups. But he rarely posts comments or messages.

“Instead of spending time reading all that stuff, I think it is better for me to read Kompas.id. It takes me around two hours to read the articles that are not in the printed version,” he said.

KOMPAS/FERGANATA INDRA RIATMOKO

Ashadi Siregar

Future of journalism

The development of information technology has changed all aspects of human life. Information is easy, cheap and abundant. Anyone can become a journalist or engage in citizen journalism.

The question is, what is the future of journalism?

Ashadi said that first of all, people needed facts about the universe, and not opinions. These days, people were drunk on technology. They could easily express their minds without referring to facts, but rather to their emotions.

“I believe one day people will regain their rationality. Only rationality will help people understand facts. Rationality is the ability to compare facts. So people see me as cynical. I believe people see me as cynical because I always criticize rationality that is not right,” said Ashadi.

This was why Ashadi was happy to receive a book about himself that bore the title, Guardian of Conscience from the Blue Campus. For him, this is correct: conscience is rationality. With a conscience, people can compare one fact to another; without facts, people cannot evaluate them.

Published again

He improved his prowess in writing and conceptual writing by producing 12 novels, three of which are trilogies: Cintaku di Kampus Biru (My Love at the Blue Campus), Kugapai Cintamu (Earning your love) and Terminal Cinta Terakhir (The Last Stop of Love). These three novels, which have been made into films, were a milestone that once censured Ashadi as a journalism teacher.

As a journalism undergraduate and lecturer, the young Ashadi was never satisfied with theory. As a student activist, he published the weekly magazine Sandi. In 1973, Ashadi stood trial under the repressive New Order government because his magazine had published an article titled “Mukaddimah”. The magazine closed down. Ashadi was stigmatized as a convict that had opposed the government. His journalistic career ended.

“Writing novels was an escape – an alternative from a dead end. Yet, writing the novels attracted people,” he said.

Now, after working many years in journalism, Ashadi intends to reread Adinegoro’s book, Melawat ke Barat (Journeying to the West), which he read in junior high school. He wanted to experience nostalgia with the book, written by the pioneer of Indonesian journalism. “That book truly impressed me. After senior high school, I only wanted to be a journalist,” he said.

Appropriately so.