When I heard the name Forum Lingkar
Pena (henceforth, FLP), there surely will flash in my mind the image
of nice women in veils speaking politely and marrying with nice pious
men they have only heard about previously (not to say that they have
never met nor been boy/girlfriends since the term boy/girlfriend
itself is virtually inexistent to them). Forum Lingkar Pena is a
banner under which one can find Moslem writers writing to syiar
(spread out) Islamic teachings of love, peace, good conducts. It’s
me to blame for not knowing deeper about their works, not reading any
full books any of them has written, accusing them of practicing
black-and-white literature (meaning, their characters are not round
with bad guys being still being bad guys and the good ones still good
ones by the end of the story), accusing them of writing tediously
predictable stories (with a long-haired band singer or guitarist
turning into a pious young man after knowing—and, of course,
falling in love with—a nice pious girl wearing veil). I realize
that it is way too evil to accuse them as such now that I have read a
book published by FLP entitled Ketika Cinta tak Mau Pergi (When Love
Won't Leave).
Written by Nadhira Khalid, a female writer and
translator living in Mataram, Lombok Island, Ketika Cinta tak Mau
Pergi ably tells a love story between Lalu Kertiaji and Sahnim. Both
of them are close to each other since they were very young like 9
years of age. Living in adjoining hamlets, Presak Bat (meaning West
Presak) and Presak Timuq (East Presak), they arrange their rendezvous
under an old tamarind tree in the border of both hamlets. They keep
meeting in a secret place around the tamarind tree even when both
hamlets build up animosity against each other due to a third party’s
desire to drive out the inhabitants of both hamlets, appropriate
their land, and mine pumice from under their feet. Animus intensifies
between both hamlets and their people. The two lovers insist on
loving each other as if to forget the fact. After being embarrassed
before teens of young men by Sahnim’s father, who disagrees to
their relationship, Lalu Kertiaji even plans to “steal” Sahnim
from her house, and he does. However, against traditional belief
strongly held by Sasak community, Sahnim’s father, Ismuhadi, with
some people from his hamlet, snatches her back from the stealer. The
incident triggers a mass riot between the two hamlets, and that kills
several people.
It was the initial story that triggers more
related actions in Ketika. The story develops into a deeper dip into
the life of Sasak community in Lombok Island as well as Sumbawa. We
will be introduced then to the state of Lombok’s people life, the
poor condition of a group of Sasak community already living tens of
years in a seaside hamlet in Sumbawa, the life of trans people
(transmigrated people who receive life support from the government
during the first years of their life in the new place. In a wider
context, we can also see the incident behind the transmigration of
Presak people and the appropriation of Presak’s peole’s land:
pumice mining factory.
Nadhira Khalid’s novel is a light
disgracing smack on the government’s face. This novel reveals how
government actually knows very little of what happens on the field.
It is also here that we know how, in certain cases, government sent
people to a new place and then they just give them rice (once, they
experience 4 months rice provision late) to survive without providing
any paramedics, not to mention any healthcare services, which then
makes them prone to death in a certain month of the year due to
malaria.
Told in Indonesian with a strong flavor of Sasak
language, the novel does take us from our reading couch to Lombok and
Sumbawa. We are also introduced to degrees of politeness practiced in
Sasak people’s communication. An older brother and sister would
normally say “I” and “you” to talk with his/her relatives,
but younger brothers and sisters would say "tiyang" instead
of I and "side" instead of you as they speak to their older
siblings. We can see quite explicitly that Nadhira Khalid aspires to
introduce, not to say promote, her home culture through the love
story of Lalu Kertiaji-Sahnim. One can see how, instead of only
letting the characters’ dialogs and actions show the unique life of
Sasak people, the omniscient narrator—or is it Nadhira
herself?—keeps on telling us readers about any local terms and
incidents with descriptive sentences. On one hand, we gain knowledge
about Sasak people more easily; however, on the other hand, we lose
the enjoyment of a dream-like world of fiction due to the
encyclopedic explanation given by the narrator.
All in all,
we will find Nadhira Khalid’s Ketika Cinta tak Mau Pergi one of
rare local themed novels that introduce us to a certain ethnic group
in Indonesia (in this case, Sasak) better than any guide books we can
find in (airport) bookstores. On my part, last but not least, I know
now that my previous conception of FLP books and writers is truly
mistaken. They are just different in terms of scope of theme, but
they are positively not any worse than any other literary styles in
Indonesian literature.
More reviews about the Ketika Cinta Tak Mau Pergi