(Kuningan, 28/01/14) Do you believe in someone saying “impossible is
nothing”? Well, particularly some people possess skeptical perspective about
the statement, but in the real world there are many evidences showing us that in fact impossible is nothing if we
have the passion and braveness to bring our dreams into reality.
One inspirational lecturer in Kuningan
University, Lala Bumela, S.S, M.Pd, has proved that he can build nothing into
something with his project in Kuningan Debating Society (KUDESO). When he first
formed KUDESO, the club was still nothing. People underestimated the club and
thought that those who joined KUDESO had pompous dreams. But, in the last 5
years since it was formed, the members of KUDESO have proved that they actually
can accomplish many great achievements. The recent achievement is being the 1st
winner of Pusat Bahasa IAIN Debating Championship 2013, and surely that’s not
all. Mr. Lala as the Head Coach of KUDESO, along with Miss Wulan Rahmatunisa,
S.Pd, Miss Nida Amalia Asikin, S.S, Arif Firmansyah, Jaruki A. Maulana, Anisa
Puspadewi & Ageng Sutrisno had became the invited adjudicators in the mentioned
debating championship. In addition, Husni S. Khotami also succeeded to be The Best Speaker of Pusat Bahasa IAIN
Debating Championship 2013. There are still many achievements of KUDESO which
cannot be mentioned one by one here.
 |
| Mr Lala Bumela, S.S, M.Pd with Yulianti Wulansari (the interviewer) |
Among
KUDESO’s regular rehearsal holding every Saturday, I get a chance to do an
interview with that very person who has trained and guided KUDESO’s members starting
from zero to the skillful debaters they are now—namely Mr. Lala Bumela. The
interview, done in campus 1 of Kuningan University at 25th January
2014, 11.15 a.m., covered many significant things that can make us more
familiar with the so-called-idealist-man as well as KUDESO, the debating club
he handles.
Good morning. Thank you for giving
time for me to have an interview with you. There are some questions that I want
to ask to you, the Extraordinary Head Coach of KUDESO. Firstly, what is the
background which motivated you to form Kuningan Debating Society?
Well, the answer is very easy. I want to have
a debating club in this university. At that time, I was still serving as the
permanent lecturer here and I have very huge responsibility in instilling
confidence in my students’ mind. There is a big chance for us to make great
changes. There is huge opportunity for us to show who or what UNIKU was. I
think when I have a debating club like KUDESO, that will be great. I can also
learn many things from the club. So there is an opportunity, there are chances.
So why don’t we take it?
KUDESO has won in many debating
competitions, and it surely brings good reputation for UNIKU. What do you feel
about that?
Well... I feel very proud of that, of course,
but at the same point, the reputation does not always mean a lot, because our
shining reputations can mean something bad for others. There are people who can
join the club but we can’t accept them as the members. There are also people
who are striving in the club so they can succeed like Miss Wulan Rahmatunisa,
Jaruki Andriansyah Maulana and then Alpha SEADO Team. For me, reputation is not
everything. I always think like a football coach. Once we win something then we
can’t go back to zero point again. So, reputation is only there in the
outsider’s mind, not in our mind as the insiders. So, I need to be frank to you
that honestly we don’t feel the reputation is ours. The reputation belongs to the
University of Kuningan, it belongs to the department, it belongs to the
outsiders. We always have the reputation as debater, not as celebrity or
artist. So I think reputation only exists in people’s mind, not on our daily
activities or our daily life.
What is the strongest ability which is
possessed by the members of KUDESO?
I think it’s not about the skill, but it’s
about the commitment to proceed in their life. Kuningan Debating Society is
more than a debating club. It’s a place where every debater can empower their
own life. It’s a special place for them to change. If you want to change, then
you may join this club. You can join the club. You HAVE TO join this club. If
you want to achieve many things which you think previously as something
impossible, then we want you to join KUDESO. If you’re committed enough then
you can achieve what you think was impossible. So I think the only ability that
we have is we can turn nothing into
something. We can change what people think is impossible into something
possible, and then we can achieve something. I think it’s the greatest
ability—changing the impossibility to be possibility.
How do you measure success in
debating?
Well, that’s a pretty tough question. It’s not
about the trophy. It’s about the quality of their critical thinking. Ya, you
could win the trophy in Bandung, Malang, and Jogjakarta, but the critical
thinking is number one. Then the second one is probably the empowerment. Debate
is not about debating. I mean, if you join debate and then you can be like
Ageng, let’s say he became the Jajaka Pinilih in Kuningan Region and the West
Java. You can transform your status as debater into something else. I think
that’s a great achievement. So it’s not about the trophy.
How would you describe an ideal
debater?
There’s no ideal debater. He is the one who is
punctual, he is the one who never comes late, of course, and then he knows what
to do as debater. Every single debater has to go the extra mile. If other
people read for one minute, then a debater has to read one hour, ten hours, if
they rehearse their speaking practice for five minutes, then we have to
rehearse the speaking skill in five hours. So, I think that’s the biggest thing
in debate.
What is your vision for KUDESO? Do you
have any specific hope for each of the members?
Well... What I can see in the next five years
in KUDESO is that perhaps KUDESO will not be here any longer. We don’t have any
new generation. What I can think about KUDESO is that the members of Kuningan
Debating Society will take their master’s degree abroad, in Australia, in Netherland,
in United States of America and I’m going to help very resourceful people, of
course with high level of knowledge, high level of experience. After they come
back home, here in Kuningan, then they can create something else. We can have
much stronger debating club. Ya, I know that my time here in Kuningan University
probably will not be long. Perhaps I’m going to stay for one or two years ahead
but then my vision will not stop there.
Do you expect any reciprocity from the
debaters for what you have done for them?
Wow, I don’t expect anything. When they can do
something for the club, when they can do something for themselves, when they
can do something for Indonesia, that’s the biggest reward that I can have. So,
it’s not about getting reciprocity, not about the work. But when they can
contribute bigger than what I can contribute today, that will be the biggest
reward I could have from the debater.
As we know that KUDESO will be
participating in South East Asia Debate Open (SEADO). What kinds of preparations
which have been and will be done to face the international competition?
I design three paces of preparation. From
December to January, we are preparing to build the general knowledge of the
debaters. I know that Anisa Puspadewi, Jaruki Andriansyah Maulana, and Arif Firmansah
have been participating in many debating tournaments in Indonesia, in different
cities. But there is still a huge room for improvement. This is a huge
event—this is ASEAN level debating competition. I need to make sure that they
have a very specific and highly extended knowledge about South East Asia, about
Asia Pacific, about the global issues. In February, the second pace of
rehearsal will take place and the focus will be on exploring the possible
motions that we can face in the competition in Miri, Malaysia. And in March, we
will explore the skill in debating. They have already possessed the debating
skill, but we need to make some enhancement, some kinds of enrichment in their
language skills—listening, reading, speaking, also the writing could be the one
I can focus on in March when we have the third paces in debating. And when
March is over, we don’t have any more preparation. We need to make some
technical preparations, like how we can get to the airport and changing the
currency. So there are basically four kinds of preparation for the SEADO
competition.
For the junior teams, you know that
they have not improved as much as the senior team. So what should they do?
Well... There’s only one option for them. If
they want to stay, then they have to follow the rules, they have to follow the
standard we are using here in the club. If they don’t want to stay, then they
have to leave the club as soon as possible.
As soon as possible?
As soon as possible. (laughs)
Do you ever think that the members who
do not improve as fast as the others are a burden for you or for the club?
(It’s) Just a challenge. In every professional
football club, we also have some players who are not committed to the club, so
we can sell the players to another club, right? It’s not a burden at all, but
it’s just a challenge. But perhaps it will be the burden for Miss Wulan Rahmatunisa,
if UNIKU does not have the young team. That will be the biggest problem. For me
it’s not a burden. It’s just a challenge.
I want to know... what is the biggest
passion in your life?
Wah, I want to be the best man that my family
can have, that’s it. Ya, that’s the passion. If I cannot be the best for my
daughter, for my wife, for my parents, then I think I’m such a big failure in
life. I want to be the best man that they can have.
Is there anything else that you want
to tell us before we conclude today?
Well, Kuningan Debating Society is a project.
It could be a long-term project or even a very short-term project. So, what I need
to say is that we don’t have to institutionalize KUDESO like HIMA or like non-government
organizations. We need to see KUDESO as a learning club. No more than that. But
a learning club has a huge impact on the department. It’s a very huge asset for
the university. And everyone in the university should think of KUDESO as... ya,
the asset. “Okay, I have a kid and I’m going to send my kid to join KUDESO”. I
want people in this university sending their children to the club. If you have
a daughter, if you have a niece, and if you who are keen on debating, so why
don’t you send the righteous to this place? I believe that KUDESO will be a
very nice place for those who have passion in debate and in English. And the
last thing I want to share is that in the long run, I mean in the next one
decade, in the next one hundred years, in the next one century, hopefully KUDESO
will be remembered as the biggest debating club ever, at least in Cirebon area,
at least in Priangan Timur. There are
still some projects that we have not completed like being the champion in NUDC.
We haven’t won some titles or some trophies in Java. I think we need to fulfill
our dreams first before we have another generation. But since the “Golden Age
of KUDESO” now will come to an end—it SEEMS to me like it will come to an end
in the next one or two years, if the youngsters or the young team is not here with
us again, so it will be disaster. But if there is a choice, I would say that
this debate should be taken care of by a very proper person—the one with high
passion in debate, the one who has high passion in joining the learners, the
students, no matter what happens, you know, the rain, the storm, the
earthquake, whatever sets them apart. So, we need to make strong bond with
KUDESO because this is my second home. This is Miss Wulan Rahmatunisa’s home.
This is probably our second home. So we can do many things in KUDESO, like
member of the family. And in the future we can remember that in the past we
have such great, great, great memories, here in the university. When you just
become too old, then I have some stories to tell to my grandchildren.
Okay, the last question. What is the
most memorable memory for you during your time with KUDESO?
Well, there are so much memories, not many,
but so much memories. The memories
are uncountable. The most recent memory I can have is that when the debaters
could come to the previous rehearsal. They have to get soaked by the rain, but
they could still come to the rehearsal. That’s a very important moment I guess.
So, it’s not about winning the trophies, not about going abroad, but it’s how
we can conquer every single obstacle. It’s about how we can overcome every
single problem that is being faced. So, that’s the most memorable memory I
have.
From the interview above, actually we can learn many things, such
as how KUDESO do not attempt to get reputation or trophies. They just do what
they can and they do it with all their heart. They also have the courage to
face every single obstacle as a family, because KUDESO is not only a club—it has
become their second home. The success that is achieved by the members of KUDESO
definitely is not detached from how Mr. Lala Bumela shares his passion, his
dreams and his goals with his students.
For those who choose not to join KUDESO
because of some reasons, there is still a chance to contribute something for
your department, your university, and even your country. How? You should find
the answer by yourself because you are the one who knows about your own
strengths and weaknesses.
Just remember that if you ever feel uncertain
about how you can realize your dream, there are people out there who can prove
that “nothing is impossible” and “impossible is nothing”. If they are able to
do it, so you are! (Yulianti Wulansari)
