The Spirit of radioppidunia.org Radio Announcers (In My Point of View)

WARNING: I'm not really good in composing a story flow. So just be prepared to get confused but happy.. *grins*

Being outside of the country, far away from the comfortable bed and neighborhood at home, studying abroad is just a big challenge for people, especially for young students. I went to Mission College (now, known as Asia-Pacific International University) in 2003; at that time, I was just finished my high school in a boarding school in East Java Academy (known as Sekolah Lanjutan Advent Purwodadi a.k.a. SLAPUR). Well, basically I'm okay to live away from home because I'd had used to it ever since I was a little younger, but living abroad would be my first experience.

During my stay in Thailand, I used to chat with people living in Indonesia via mIRC, and watched online streaming of the Indonesian televisions. Okay, in short, I missed Indonesia and tried to get connected to friends and families as much as possible. Oh, and I remembered I went to the Indonesian Embassy's Christmas Party in a hotel ballroom in Bangkok (which I've lost the precious pictures when I flew back to Indonesia..T-T).

I went back to Indonesia in 2005 and continued my education in Universitas Klabat, Manado. Well, I don't need to write the story here, because there's no point of it related to this post title.. *chuckles*. A couple weeks later I got a facebook message from a friend, Randy Moal, whom I met during the Pre-Tsunami Christmas celebration with the West Java Pathfinder Team; he told me to try listening to an online radio station where DJs were Indonesian students from different parts of the world. Then, he gave me the link to this radio station,

At first, I said to myself, "what the hello kitty is this thing? I haven't heard before." I tried to tune it in but all I listened to was only songs. Since the internet connection in Indonesia was (and is) so touching my heart 'till I wanted (and still makes me) to drop a tear or two, I decided to close the website tab, and listened to something more entertaining (well, that something came with motion pictures and effects called the movie).

Years after, when I (finally) graduated and done with my pathetic-but-fun-and-educative college years, when I got a job in a private bank and was assigned to have on-the-job training in Makassar, South Sulawesi, I started to watch radioppidunia's Yahoo Messenger sign-ins and sign-outs every couple of hours and I said, "well, I think it worth trying to listen to it, since I'm all alone here in this new place."

So, I browsed the website and found out that there was actually a chat box and a radio player put together in a web page. Hm..well, I love to chat and I was once a radio announcer back in my past life (*LOL* why did I type that past-life phrase???) in Manado. So I registered my nickname and tuned in to the program. There was Reja Dalimunthe the DJ at that time; I can still imagine him walk around the neighborhood carrying his laptop and headset, hunting people to be interviewed, whom were shy and rather whispering instead of speaking out loud (*LOL*). As time flew that night, I chat with several people who were actually the DJs and ex-DJs of radioppidunia. They were all from different parts of the world greeting their fellow friends for Idul Fitri celebration..

As I went off to bed that night (which was actually dark early-in-the-morning... *chuckles*), thoughts craved around my brain about these new buddies I met on the internet radio. Let me say it loud in Indonesian version (for better understanding... LOL..)

"Orang-orang ini tinggal di luar negeri, jauh dari orangtua mereka. Mereka justru menghabiskan waktu bersama-sama di radio biarpun lagi nggak tugas. Sebenarnya mereka punya pilihan untuk hang out dengan teman-teman lain ke bioskop kek atau ke pub kek atau rekreasi ke mana lah... Tapi mereka justru diam di kamar mereka untuk siaran, hibur sesama perantauan yang lagi dengar entah di mana mereka berada. Don't they know kalau mereka ini sebenarnya bukan hanya menyalurkan hobi dan bakat di bidang broadcasting aja, tapi mereka juga sebenarnya promosiin Indonesia di dunia maya. Acara-acaranya juga sebenarnya edukatif dan nggak semata-mata entertainment, kirim-kirim salam dan celoteh nggak ada juntrungannya, tapi juga ada beberapa acara sastra dan beberapa yang minta opini pendengar... Mereka ini layak untuk didengar, dan kayaknya sudah saatnya mereka diperhatiin lebih lagi dari pemerintah, untuk acara apa kek, interview, live discussion dan lebih banyak lagi."

And deep inside my heart, I made a standing applause (ironis banget ya, standing applause saat tidur.. *chuckles*) to those guys who spend their time serving fellow listeners even during holidays. I was once a radio announcer and DJ, and I understand how hard and challenging (and sometimes boring) it is to broadcast alone, talk alone, just for the listeners.

I think, this radio has been doing such a great job and should always be like this.

Selamat bekerja, my dear friends in RADIOPPIDUNIA, whoever the founder is, you have done something you don't need to regret; instead you should be proud of doing this for the country, especially for the young Indonesians.