KBAPWS, What’s That?

We often find in the social networking site Facebook an application that reminds its users of the birthdays of other users. Some users may consider this as trivial, while others may not. For those who think that such application is unimportant, they probably do not really comprehend the nature of social interaction which requires communication among human being. That’s certainly different with those who believe in the importance of communication: silaturrahim.

Regardless of whether or not the aforesaid Facebook application is important, let us discuss about the anniversary of Pondok Pesantren Wali Songo (PPWS) on the last 4th of April, especially for those who are commemorating the anniversary in Egypt.

PPWS has been contributing to the dynamics of Islamic education in Indonesia for 49 years. Of course as an institution of learning, many students have graduated from the boarding school over its 49 years of existence. Among which are united under the banner of Keluarga Besar Alumni Pondok Pesantren Walisongo, KBAPWS in short, established in the Arab Republic of Egypt, and the forum currently has around 50 members.

There are interesting things that the author wants to convey about KBAPWS in Egypt. Formerly, alumni of PPWS who lived in Egypt had established what was named Himpunan Keluarga Pondok Pesantren Wali Songo (HKPW). However, due to socio-historical reasons, the institution of PPWS changed the name of HKPW to Himpunan Alumni dan Keluarga Pondok Pesantren Wali Songo (HAKPW), and the alumni who were in Egypt had consequently changed the name from HKPW Egypt into HAKPW Egypt. However, the new name (HAKPW) did not exist very long since PPWS once again changed the forum’s name into KBAPWS. And again, HAKPW Egypt was accordingly changed into KBAPWS Egypt.

We can see that the alumni in PPWS in Egypt are very much obedient to the decisions made by the stakeholders in PPWS, as can be observed from the evolution of the name of the alumni’s forum from HKPW up to KBAPWS. Whereas in a number of areas in Indonesia, some other alumni had objected to the forum’s names oferred by PPWS.

Unfortunately, PPWS seems to have little interest, or to put it mildly, is not aware of the potentials of its alumni in Egypt, compared to those who are residing in Indonesia. Why potential? This is because, for now, KBAPWS Egypt only possesses potentials, and not yet material. This differs from the alumni in Indonesia who had delved into the material world and can offer more than just mere potential. However, just be fair, the author assumes that PPWS is applying what we call scale of priority to empower its alumni. Hopefully this is not because PPWS is only interested in the alumni who can provide material benefits to the institution.

For example, in the case of the change of the forum’s name to HAKPW, or even to KBAPWS, there were no formal letter of decision sent to PPWS alumni in Egypt to socialize the decision. And in the national alumni conference, there was no invitation letters conveyed to the alumni in Egypt. Is it possible that PPWS has forgotten that it has a representative in Egypt? Interesting, isn’t it?

Here is a case study to ponder upon: the Government of the Philippines has established a communication mechanism with its labors who are working all around the world. In that mechanism, every labor receives a birthday greeting card from the President of the Philippines in his/her birthday. It may seem trivial, and most probably the President herself is not writing the birthday greeting, however small things like that has given the impression that the Government of the Philippines is really concerned about its citizens who work in a foreign country. And in Egypt, Philippino labors (especially those working in the domestic sector) has ranked top in terms of salaries received compared to other nationalities.

That shows the importance of building communication. Even though the act of building communication itself is as simple as sending a birthday greeting card, it is very influential on a country's positive image.

We can imagine what would happen if PPWS sends birthday greetings to its representatives abroad. It may encourage the creation of the atmosphere of harmony. That way, the communication will not only be established by PPWS representatives abroad who continuously provide information to PPWS, but also by the PPWS itself as an institution that provides feedback to its representatives. Here, two-way communication will occur.

Finally, let us hope that the silaturrahim wil always be present, not only among fellow alumni in Egypt, but also between the alumni forum (i.e. KBAPWS) and PPWS that is established upon the foundation of interactive (two-way) communitation. The starting point for the silaturrahim is through the continuous effort of PPWS alumni to develop their potentials which can bring about positive contribution to the society as a whole. Happy birthday PPWS.