Khairullah: A Farmer Can Wear a Tie
Khairullah (18 years), a third-grade student of SMAN 4 (Senior High School) of East Kalimantan, is the second winner in the Writing Competition on the 60 Years of Agricultural Higher Education in IPB. He deserves to obtain a laptop, saving money and a souvenir typical of IPB. Confidently without his parents, he left East Kalimantan to meet the invitation of IPB Bogor in the ceremony of the 60 years of Agricultural Higher Education and handing over of the writing competition prizes. Khairullah has often written and this interest is expressed in his personal blog on the web. "Usually I write twice a month or more, depending on the mood," he explained.
Not only in IPB has Khairullah won writing competitions; previously he became the winner in the writing competition held in the Provincial Government of East Kalimantan. His achievement in the competition at IPB through his article titled “Empat Rasa Menggapai Cita” (Four Flavors Reaching out A Dream) was inspired by a pack of candies with various flavors: sweet, sour and salty. He describes the various flavors of candy as the Indonesian agriculture: on the one hand Indonesia is rich in natural resources; on the other the potential is not fully able to prosper the people especially the farmers.
"Apart from that, I am interested to participate in the writing competition because I see the facts that East Kalimantan’s agricultural potential is not utilized optimally, such as palm oil and the many poorly-managed rice fields. Khairullah is also concerned over the picture of Indonesian farmers who are on average the elderly and in poverty, so he often see the farmers are disadvantaged by the market. "However, a farmer could also wear tie," he said.
He deeply regrets when he sees that many students or those of his age are not interested in agriculture although it is important to the welfare of Indonesian people and especially Indonesia is a country rich in natural resources, only requiring young educated people of agriculture to utilize the resources, he said. On his return from IPB, Khairullah is planning to have a celebration with his family and friends in Kalimantan. (Mtd)
