Bad News from London Met :(

So, my friend told me about this bad news last night.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(from www.telegraph.co.uk)

London Met banned from issuing visas to foreign students

More than 2,000 international students are facing deportation after London Metropolitan University was banned from teaching foreign students amid fears many are using the courses simply to get a British visa.

More than 2,000 international students have been left in limbo after a university was stripped of its right to admit foreigners following an investigation that exposed "serious systemic failures".

It found a quarter of overseas students sampled at London Metropolitan University did not have permission to stay in the country while a "significant proportion" did not have a good standard of English, and that in more than half of cases, there was no proof they were turning up to lectures.

The university had its Highly Trusted Status (HTS) for sponsoring international students revoked and will no longer be allowed to authorise visas, following the probe by the UK Border Agency.

More than 2,000 could now face being deported within 60 days unless they find a place on another course that is recognised by the Government.

Universities minister David Willetts has set up a task force to help "genuine students who are affected through no fault of their own" with advice and help including finding other institutions where they can complete their studies.

The decison to remove HTS was condemned as "disgusting" by the National Union of Students, which accused the Government of using international students as "a political football" and suggested it could "endanger the continuation of higher education as a successful export industry".

Keith Vaz, chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, said the move could harm Britain's world reputation as a prime destination for higher education, saying the move had left "thousands of students in limbo" at the "worst possible time" at the start of the academic year.

But immigration minister Damian Green defended the "sensible measures" to enforce rules that were designed to prevent foreigners abusing study visas by simply using them so they could come to Britain for work.

He said the move would not be replicated at other institutions and that in other cases where the UKBA had warned of failings, action had quickly been taken to resolve them.

Mr Green said the university had proved to be a "very, very deficient" sponsor because of the alleged breaches over right ti stay, proficiency in English, and attendance/

"Any one of those breaches would be serious," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "We found all three of those breaches at London Metropolitan.

"What we found here is a serious systemic failure where it appears that the university doesn't have the capacity to be a proper sponsor and to have confidence that the students coming have the right to be here in the first place.

London Metropolitan University's HTS status was suspended last month while it was examined. The university announced on its website last night that it had been revoked with "hugely significant and far-reaching" implications.

A UKBA spokesman said: "London Metropolitan University's licence to sponsor non-EU students has been revoked after it failed to address serious and systemic failings that were identified by the UK Border Agency six months ago.

"We have been working with them since then, but the latest audit revealed problems with 61% of files randomly sampled. Allowing London Metropolitan University to continue to sponsor and teach international students was not an option."

Professor Eric Thomas, president of Universities UK, said there were other ways to address UKBA's concerns and the university's licence should only have been revoked as a last resort.

He said: "The UKBA's decision to revoke London Metropolitan University's licence will cause anxiety and distress to those many legitimate international students currently studying at London Metropolitan, and their families."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I checked on the London Met's website and they highlighted the issue. However, the last update was on August 29:

(from www.londonmet.ac.uk)

The University regrets to announce that as at 8pm on Wednesday 29th August 2012, the UK Border Agency (UKBA) has revoked its Highly Trusted Status for sponsoring international students. Please see the earlier press statements on this page (below) for the context of this decision. 

The implications of the revocation are hugely significant and far-reaching, and the University has already started to deal with these.  It will be working very closely with the UKBA, HEFCE, the National Union of Students and its own Students' Union.

This does not affect UK and EU students. 

Our ABSOLUTE PRIORITY is to our students, both current and prospective, and the University will meet all its obligations to them.

The University has set up a Help Centre to support and advise students. The number is             +44 (0) 20 7133 4141      

A fuller announcement will be made on Thursday 30th August 2012.

Malcolm Gillies
Vice-Chancellor

Wednesday 29 August, 2012

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I also searched videos about this:

There are three articles in Indonesia about this: from BBC Indonesia, DIKTI website (though these two are just the translation from Telegraph) and sort of a news portal called Hidayatullah (this one is a proper article).

So, it's like a chaos inside me. At first, I really didn't know what to do--well, I still do until now. I thought maybe it's best not to panic and wait London Met to encounter this problem and they will have a good news at the end. But it turns out to be a really serious problem. Kepi told me that I have to find another university. She said that there is no chance to go to London Met anymore.

I don't know, I feel like disappointed and relieved at the same time. Disappointed, of course. I was over the moon when I said that I successfully enrolled at London Met. I told my parents (and then they told it to relatives), sisters, friends, Refa and his parents. This is not only London Met's failure, I feel like it is also my failure. I don't know how to tell my family about this, especially my Dad.

Relieved, because yeah this happens when I still here in Indonesia. I'm not a current student who will be deported in 60 days. If I were, surely I would be pissed about this. It's like the UK kicked you out in the ass. And I would not leave from a country I used to love--in disgrace. Also, you know, it's been ages since I wanted to finish my personal statement for the scholarship. And it has not been finished until now. This makes me think that "well maybe this isn't the best for me, I should have known that if something is always difficult to do, maybe it is a wrong way."--yeah, despite of my great procrastination to do it.

So, that's the news, guys.

See you next time.

Cheers! Chin up!

Sajak Malam

*ambil mic*
Tes, tes.. 
*ngiiing (ceritanya feedback)*

Tulisan ini didedikasikan untuk teman saya yang sedang galau: Venessa Allia.

*lampu sorot ke Veness, wherever she is now*

Dia anaknya hobi banget ngaku-ngaku umurnya 19, padahal jelas-jelas twenty-something :p.
Jadi aja kan, galaunya juga kayak anak 19 tahun, hihihi.

Tapi, memang hati tak dapat berbohong. So, here it is:

Setiap kala bumi yang kupijak memalingkan wajahnya dari matahari, kutuang semua kata yang tak dapat terucap. Bersama hujan yang menderas, kuhanyutkan segala perasaan ini. Kuhempaskan jauh-jauh ke dalam gelap. Biar sunyi saja yang menjadi saksi.

Kau dan aku.
Dua diantara miliaran manusia.
Tak ubahnya selembar daun diantara lebat belantara. Biarkan dimensi itu berada, kita tak pernah tahu kemana takdir akan membawa.

*applause(?)*

Tak perlulah, kawan. 
Dalam senyumnya, setiap kali nama itu disebut, gelisah hatinya. Tapi biarkan kerinduannya menjadi nyanyian sunyi yang syahdu, terbingkai mesra dalam hati yang pilu.

*light fades out*

Cheers!

Dearest

Dalam sebentuk raga kau kurindu.
Tertangkap olehku bayangmu. Bayang-bayang panjang, yang kutatap lekat hingga bersembunyi di balik sekat. Sorot mata dan seutas senyum itu, binar di antara pekat.

Dalam tawa kita berbagi kisah. Tentangmu, tentangku, dan tentang mereka.
Walau jalan hidup yang kita pilih berbeda, kau dan aku hadir di satu masa yang sama.
Saling mengasihi, berpeluh, dan berikrar cita.

Raga kita terpisah jauh, tapi dalam dunia kita tetap satu.
Satu hal pula yang kupinta; jangan pernah memutuskan tali persahabatan ini.
Kejar, kejar cinta dan citamu. Agar kita dapat dipertemukan kembali dengan senyum yang terbingkai dalam wajah-wajah yang bahagia.

:)

Cheers!

Seutas Takdir

Tulisan ini dibuat sesaat setelah mandi.

Wait, what?

Yea, why not? Kamar mandi itu sumbernya inspirasi. Jadi selama berada di dalamnya, entah kenapa pikiran dan imajinasi kaya berhamburan kemana-mana. Pengen rasanya diwadahin ke ember. Mungkin karena kepala kena air juga kali ya, jadi seger gitu. Whatever it is, sangat penting untuk segera menulis ide itu sebelum lupa.

Andai jalan hidup manusia dipandu dengan seutas benang yang terbentang dari zaman rahim sampai zaman kubur nanti,

Tentu tak ada amarah, tak ada sengketa, konflik, dan perselisihan karena masing-masing meniti benangnya sendiri. Tak akan tercipta istilah pencarian jati diri karena yang perlu kita lakukan adalah mengikuti benang dan melihat kemana ia akan membawa kita.

Namun, Tuhan tidak berkehendak demikian. Tali hidup kita sudah diputus semenjak kita lahir, orang lalu menyebutnya ari-ari. Namun, tali itu tidak sepenuhnya hilang, kita hanya tak bisa melihatnya.

Kita sedang meniti tali itu, sampai sekarang, apapun yang kita lakukan sekarang, kita sedang berjalan di atas tali itu. Orang lalu menyebutnya takdir. Mungkin manusia akan melepas imannya jika benang takdir itu terlihat. Tak peduli akan usaha, tak bergelut dengan keputusan, tak berhadapan dengan kesulitan, karena jalannya sudah ada.

Manusia adalah makhluk-makhluk kecil yang ditempatkan Tuhan di sebuah labirin raksasa. Labirin dengan lika-liku rumit yang berisi jutaan jalan hidup manusia beserta kemungkinan-kemungkinannya. Kita ditempatkan disitu tanpa mampu melihat jalan hidup.

Lalu kemana kita harus pergi? Labirin itu memiliki banyak jalan keluar, namun hanya satu tujuan: kembali pada Tuhan.

Bit lame? Mungkin karena waktu itu nulisnya langsung banget tanpa editing.

Okay, that's it for today. Bye-bye!

Cheers!

Money Can't Buy You A Happiness (??)

Kata orang, uang ga bisa membeli kebahagiaan. “Money can't buy you a happiness.”

Kata gue, itu bohong besar.

Munafik banget orang yang ngomong kaya gitu. Well yeah, maybe at a certain level of wealth, you reach a moment when money can’t get you a thing anymore. Which means, semua kebutuhan pokok; sandang, pangan, papan,dan gadget (oh hell yeah, di jaman ketika tukang ojek dan tukang sayur dipanggil melalui sms, gadget adalah kebutuhan pokok, apapun bentuknya, minimal handphone) sudah terpenuhi. Ini termasuk sandang, misalnya, money can’t buy you happiness adalah saat lo udah punya semua model baju yang lo pengen, ketika lo pengen sebuah pakaian dan itu gampang terealisasikan. Satu-satunya baju yang ngga lo beli mungkin kostum dagingnya Lady Gaga. Pangan, satu kasus sama sandang. You name it.

Maksud gue gini, ini bukannya kufur nikmat atau mengagung-agungkan uang. But let’s be rational about it. We live in the world where there’s no free lunch. Kayanya konteks "free lunch" ini lebih ke “lo ga bisa dapetin sesuatu tanpa berusaha”, but since I don’t know what other phrase could fit, so yeah. Eh ada tuh free lunch, di kaya tempat-tempat sosial gitu. Iye, itu yang masak kira-kira dapet beras darimana? Jatuh aja gitu dari langit tiba-tiba ada nasi timbel? Beras sekilo harganya 8000-12000 rupiah, kawan. Mudah bagi Allah untuk kun fayakun, jadilah hujan gorengan. Ga akan ada orang susah, kerempeng, malnutrisi, dan mati kelaparan. Tapi ini ngga kan? Pun Allah tidak menjadikan uang 100.000 nyelip gitu aja di buah manggis misalnya. Ini kaya menjadikan bahwa uang ya harus dicari. Dan karena dicari itu, ketika mendapatkannya, it brings you happiness.

Uang memang bukan segalanya, tapi kita ga bisa hidup tanpa uang. Yes, there is a society who lives without money, people call it the primitives. Suku-suku yang hidupnya jauh dari hingar-bingar modernitas, kaya yang di Ethnic Runaway itu loh. If you say “money doesn’t buy a happiness”, then I will reply, “make your way to the primitives”.

[source]

Gue teringat percakapan beberapa waktu lalu dengan seorang teman. Dia ini temen SMP gue yang juga satu kampus. Dari SMP, dia emang cemerlang anaknya, jago matematika, sedangkan gue berhitung saja sulit. Just recently, temen gue ini lulus S2, sedang gue hidup saja sulit. Jadi waktu itu percakapan kita berlanjut pada ngomongin kuliah versus kerja. Dan temen gue ini berkata:

T: “Ih wa, gimana juga enakan sekolah lagi tau. Kita bebas dengan pikiran kita, ga dikekang orang. Kalau kerja disuruh-suruh orang mulu. Coba sekolah, hanya kita dan otak kita, merdeka.”

Gue diam. Hanya menanggapi dengan anggukan dan senyum.

Here’s the thing, while there’s a million of people who live in a real poverty, hidup gue sih tidak kekurangan. Gue masih bisa makan enak, di badan masih melekat pakaian layak, dan tidur masih di kasur nyaman. Kebutuhan primer masih terpenuhi, alhamdulillah. 

Let’s just say it: terbatas. 

Terbatas dalam artian, gue terbatas untuk megang uang sendiri.

Maka, gue yang berpikiran naif bahwa kerja = uang, berpikir sebaliknya dari temen gue itu. Saat diam itu, gue berpikir “ya mendingan kerja lah, dapet duit”. Intinya sih, dari situ gue berpikir tentang kemerdekaan finansial. Dunia ini emang ga ada yang hitam putih, yang namanya uang bisa datang dari mana aja. Kuliah sampe mampus juga bisa kok menghasilkan uang. Biasanya kalau udah studi S3 kesono emang mainannya proyek yang digaji tinggi. Dan kerja juga mungkin ga selamanya indah, mungkin kena marah bos, lembur, proposal gagal, dll dll. Dan jaman sekarang, pilihan ga cuma kuliah atau kerja, jalur entrepreneur kan lagi banyak diminati. Apapun jalannya, pasti ada enak ga enaknya. Dan apapun itu juga, money will be always with you, either as a blessing or a disaster.

Gue sih saat itu, dengan kondisi keuangan pribadi yang seperti “ini”, berpikir bahwa kemerdekaan finansial sounds more fun than intellectual independence.

To illustrate, waktu itu gue ngomongin topik ini sama Mei.

M : “Aku juga pengen bisa beliin sarung buat Bapa aku. Sekarang mah belum bisa.”

H:  “Itu dia, Mei. Kalau sekarang kondisi km terbatas, ga bisa beliin sarung buat Bapa kamu. Nanti, ketika kamu punya cukup uang, kamu BEBAS nentuin sarung mana yang mau kamu beli. Mau Cap Gajah Duduk, mau yang motifnya salur, apa kotak-kotak, kamu bebas nentuin. Satu-satunya yang bikin kamu bingung adalah motif, bukan uangnya. Itu yang aku sebut kemerdekaan finansial.”

Ini pure pemikiran gue aja ya, kalau ada yang ga setuju atau gimana, ya monggo. Gue pun tidak menganggap kemerdekaan intelektual tidak penting. Nulis di blog ini adalah salah satu bentuk kemerdekaan to express my thoughts. Setiap orang punya pemikiran yang beda-beda, dan itu terbentuk dari ketika kita kecil sampai sekarang. Nilai-nilai yang ditanamkan orangtua, lingkungan keluarga dan teman akan sangat berpengaruh. If you want to really understand it, you have to walk on my shoes. And fyi, sekarang gue belum kerja ataupun kuliah (lagi). Jadi kalau ada yang berpikir bahwa gue such a grumpy and pathetic pengangguran, ya silahkan saja. Actually, I am pleased bahwa ada yang baca sampai sepanjang ini. :p

Hey, what a coincidence banget ya ini ngomongin kemerdekaan dan hari ini tanggal 17 Agustus. Jadi, buat gue, kemerdekaan yang belum diraih adalah kemerdekaan finansial. Because money DOES buy you a happiness.

What’s yours?

Cheers!
Dirgahayu Indonesiaku! :)