HERO

HERO

By Arif Satria

Hong Kong, November 27 2019

People say, there are people who are famous because of the media. There are also people who are great because of work. It can also be famous and large because both of them. We have commemorated Heroes' Day. Is the hero remembered for his popularity in the media or is it remembered for his work? The work does not only refer to tangible products. The work can refer to thoughts and actions. The work is called great if it brings change to progress. Heroes of independence have a great work of thoughts and actions in the context of the struggle for independence. There is a struggle through the mass movement whether armed or not, there is also an intellectual movement and economic movement. Now is no longer the era of the struggle for independence. Now is the era of gratitude for independence. Grateful for independence the best is with a historical work. Historical works will always inspire. What does this new era hero look like?

According to KBBI, a hero means a person who is respected for courage, or a person who is admired for his skills and achievements. According to Oxford Dictionaries, the hero is "a person who is admired for their courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities". Everyone can be a hero. The key is courage, extraordinary achievements and benefits for others.

Talking about heroes came to mind the figure of an IPB professor named Prof. Bambang HERO Saharjo. Incidentally the name has the word "Hero". The name is not without reason. It could be that his parents really want his son to be a "hero". The name is prayer. Now his parents can smile happily that some of his prayers are answered. For environmental fighters, now Prof. Bambang is a "hero". His consistent struggle in researching forest fires is now recognized worldwide. He recently won the prestigious John Maddox Prize 2019 in the UK, eliminating 206 candidates from 38 countries. The award was given because of his dedication to researching a topic for many years and the results of his research became a lot of policy material. This is transformative research, namely research that has an impact. Transformative research is always partial and not free of values. Because of that impact, he got an award. Rewards are results, not goals. Because of that the award is at the downstream end, which is difficult to achieve without hard struggle upstream. The threat of criminalization he got many times. But perseverance in research does not end on the road, persistence that is symbiotic with courage. The saying goes, "No pain, no gain".

In IPB there are still many other "heroes", both those who appear on the surface and those who still survive working in silence. There is Dr. Hajrial Aswiddinnoor who discovered the IPB 3S variety as a superior variety with productivity could reach more than 11 tons / hectare. There is also Mr. Kamir R Brata who invented bio-pore technology which is now practiced everywhere. The innovation is very beneficial for environmental sustainability. There are many more other names that truly excel and add value to life.

The heroes in the world are generally born without designs. Hero is the title of someone else. They grow flow naturally, without engineering. They work harder than others. They work with high passion. They rarely say they are great. Other people say it's great because they feel how useful it is.
Hero is reputation, which is a good name created because others recognize it. Other people have felt the benefits of his work. Finally, a hero is an investment, because his work benefits others, unexpectedly there will be a lot of gain in the future. Gain can be tangible or intangible. God will not remain silent to people who have benefited others. The benefit hierarchy will determine how much gain you get. The hierarchy starts from heroes for themselves, heroes for family, heroes for friends, heroes for organizations, heroes for society, heroes for the nation, to heroes for the world.

However, a true hero never thinks of gain for himself. A true hero never thinks of his work as an investment. A true hero always wants to present his work full of aura of sincerity. Hero works for mutual progress. On campus, more and more heroes will appear. The key is the work of inspiring innovation. The key is in the orientation of truth, not fame. That's why the aphorisms of Mr. Andi Hakim Nasoetion should be remembered again: "Look for the truth, not fame, then meet both of them".