Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela, born in 1918, South African activist, winner of the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize, and the first black president of South Africa (1994-1999). Born in Umtata, South Africa, in what is now Eastern Cape province, Mandela was the son of a Xhosa-speaking Thembu chief. He attended the University of Fort Hare in Alice where he became involved in the political struggle against the racial discrimination practiced in South Africa. He was expelled in 1940 for participating in a student demonstration. After moving to Johannesburg, he completed his course work by correspondence through the University of South Africa and received a bachelor’s degree in 1942. Mandela then studied law at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. He became increasingly involved with the African National Congress (ANC), a multiracial nationalist movement which sought to bring about democratic political change in South Africa. Mandela helped establish the ANC Youth League in 1944 and became its president in 1951.

The National Party (NP) came to power in South Africa in 1948 on a political platform of white supremacy. The official policy of apartheid, or forced segregation of the races, began to be implemented under NP rule. In 1952 the ANC staged a campaign known as the Defiance Campaign, when protesters across the country refused to obey apartheid laws. That same year Mandela became one of the ANC’s four deputy presidents. In 1952 he and his friend Oliver Tambo were the first blacks to open a law practice in South Africa. In the face of government harassment and with the prospect of the ANC being officially banned, Mandela and others devised a plan. Called the “M” plan after Mandela, it organized the ANC into small units of people who could then encourage grassroots participation in antiapartheid struggles.

By the late 1950s Mandela, with Oliver Tambo and others, moved the ANC in a more militant direction against the increasingly discriminatory policies of the government. He was charged with treason in 1956 because of the ANC’s increased activity, particularly in the Defiance Campaign, but he was acquitted after a five-year trial. In 1957 Mandela divorced his first wife, Evelyn Mase; in 1958 he married Nomzamo Madikizela, a social worker, who became known as Winnie Mandela.

In March 1960 the ANC and its rival, the Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC), called for a nationwide demonstration against South Africa’s pass laws, which controlled the movement and employment of blacks and forced them to carry identity papers. After police massacred 69 blacks demonstrating in Sharpeville (see Sharpeville Massacre), both the ANC and the PAC were banned. After Sharpeville the ANC abandoned the strategy of nonviolence, which until that time had been an important part of its philosophy. Mandela helped to establish the ANC’s military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation), in December 1961. He was named its commander-in-chief and went to Algeria for military training. Back in South Africa, he was arrested in August 1962 and sentenced to five years in prison for incitement and for leaving the country illegally.

While Mandela was in prison, ANC colleagues who had been operating in hiding were arrested at Rivonia, outside of Johannesburg. Mandela was put on trial with them for sabotage, treason, and violent conspiracy. He was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment in June 1964. For the next 18 years he was imprisoned on Robben Island and held under harsh conditions with other political prisoners. Despite the maximum security of the Robben Island prison, Mandela and other leaders were able to keep in contact with the antiapartheid movement covertly. Mandela wrote much of his autobiography secretly in prison. The manuscript was smuggled out and was eventually completed and published in 1994 as Long Walk to Freedom. Later, Mandela was moved to the maximum-security Pollsmoor Prison near Cape Town. Mandela became an international symbol of resistance to apartheid during his long years of imprisonment, and world leaders continued to demand his release.

In response to both international and domestic pressure, the South African government, under the leadership of President F. W. de Klerk, lifted the ban against the ANC and released Mandela in February 1990. Soon after his release from prison he became estranged from Winnie Mandela, who had played a key leadership role in the antiapartheid movement during his incarceration. Although Winnie had won international recognition for her defiance of the government, immediately before Mandela’s release she had come into conflict with the ANC over a controversial kidnapping and murder trial that involved her young bodyguards. The Mandelas were divorced in 1996.

Mandela, who enjoyed enormous popularity, assumed the leadership of the ANC and led negotiations with the government for an end to apartheid. While white South Africans considered sharing power a big step, black South Africans wanted nothing less than a complete transfer of power. Mandela played a crucial role in resolving differences. For their efforts, he and de Klerk were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. The following year South Africa held its first multiracial elections, and Mandela became president.

Mandela sought to calm the fears of white South Africans and of potential international investors by trying to balance plans for reconstruction and development with financial caution. His Reconstruction and Development Plan allotted large amounts of money to the creation of jobs and housing and to the development of basic health care. In December 1996 Mandela signed into law a new South African constitution. The constitution established a federal system with a strong central government based on majority rule, and it contained guarantees of the rights of minorities and of freedom of expression. Mandela, who had announced that he would not run for reelection in 1999, stepped down as party leader of the ANC in late 1997 and was succeeded by South African deputy president Thabo Mbeki. Mandela's presidency came to an end in June 1999, when the ANC won legislative elections and selected Mbeki as South Africa's next president.

Saddam Hussein

Saddam Hussein (1937-2006), former president of Iraq (1979-2003), who led Iraq into two devastating wars. Hussein’s regime was characterized by brutal suppression of internal opposition. Hussein was overthrown in April 2003 by a United States-led invasion. He eluded capture until December when he was arrested by U.S. forces. In November 2006 Hussein was found guilty of crimes against humanity and was sentenced to death. His execution took place in December 2006.

Born to a poor farming family near Tikrīt, a town north of Baghdād, Hussein was raised by his widowed mother and other relatives. He moved to Baghdād in 1955 and became involved in politics, joining the opposition Baath Party, an Arab nationalist movement. Hussein rose quickly within the party and in 1959 helped organize an assassination attempt on Abdul Karim Kassem, the military president of Iraq. Both Kassem and Hussein were injured in the gun battle, and Hussein fled to Cairo.

Hussein studied law in Cairo while continuing party-affiliated activities. He returned to Baghdād in 1963, married, and rose to the post of assistant secretary general of the Baath Party. The party remained in opposition to the government until 1968, when it seized power in a coup. Years of underground work gave Hussein a small core of like-minded friends, many related to him by blood or marriage and most from Tikrīt. After the coup, this clique established itself as a Revolutionary Command Council with absolute authority in the country. Hussein became vice chairman of the council in 1969. He worked closely with General Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, the council’s chairman and president of Iraq.

Hussein took a leading role in addressing the country’s major domestic problems. He negotiated an agreement in 1970 with separatist Kurdish leaders, giving them autonomy. The agreement later broke down, leading to brutal fighting between the regime and Kurdish groups. He also played a part in the nationalization of the oil industry, Iraq’s major source of wealth. In 1973 oil prices skyrocketed, allowing the government to pursue an ambitious economic development program that included new schools, universities, hospitals, and factories.

In foreign affairs, Hussein at first helped Iraq play a leading role in the Middle East. In 1975 he negotiated a settlement with Iran that contained Iraqi concessions on border demarcation. In return, Iran agreed to stop supporting opposition Kurds in Iraq. Hussein also led Arab opposition to the 1979 Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel. President al-Bakr gradually withdrew from politics during the 1970s and formally retired in 1979. Hussein became chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council and president of the country.

In 1979 Iran’s government was overthrown by Islamic fundamentalists and their supporters, and Hussein feared radical Islamic ideas were spreading inside Iraq, especially among the country’s majority Shia Muslim population (Shia Islam). In September 1980 Hussein abandoned his 1975 agreement with Iran and invaded Iran. After making some initial gains Iraq’s troops were stopped, and by 1982 Iraq was looking for ways to end the war. Hussein reached out to other Arab governments for financial and diplomatic support and began to target the Iranian oil industry. The Iranians, hoping to bring down Hussein, refused a ceasefire until 1988. During the war, Iraq used chemical weapons against Iranian forces.

The Iran-Iraq War left Iraq devastated with hundreds of thousands of casualties and a debt of about $75 billion. Still, Hussein had an experienced and well-equipped army, which he used to influence regional affairs, for example, by pressuring Kuwait to forgive its share of Iraq’s debt. In August 1990 Hussein sent troops into Kuwait and annexed it. An international coalition led by the United States evicted Iraq in January and February of 1991 in a conflict known as the Persian Gulf War. Though briefer than the Iran-Iraq War, it was equally devastating, leaving Iraq isolated and reeling from international economic sanctions.

Despite having led Iraq into two wars and, in so doing, squandering the country’s oil wealth, Hussein succeeded in facing down all internal challenges to his rule. In 1991, shortly after the end of the Persian Gulf War, Hussein suppressed an uprising among Shias in the south (see Shia Islam). Kurds who rebelled in the north were saved from complete defeat only because the international community protected them. Hussein’s small clique of friends and family was divided after the war, and in the following years Hussein arrested, exiled, and killed many among them who were thought to threaten his rule.

In the mid-1990s Hussein began interfering with the work of United Nations (UN) inspection teams assigned to Iraq after the Persian Gulf War to ensure that Iraq had ceased development of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons and had destroyed any stockpiles of these weapons. His government insisted that the sanctions against Iraq should be lifted in return for its compliance with UN resolutions and accused the United States of seeking not to disarm Iraq but to overthrow the Iraqi regime. Arguments over the inspections led to a series of international confrontations. In 1998 Hussein averted conflicts in February and again in November by agreeing to allow inspections to continue. However, when in December he again blocked inspections, the United States and Britain launched a four-day series of air strikes on Iraqi military and industrial targets. In response, Hussein declared that Iraq would allow no further UN inspections.

In November 2002, after months of heightened pressure from the United States and the UN, Hussein submitted to a UN resolution ordering the immediate return of weapons inspectors to Iraq. However, the United States argued that Iraq was not complying fully with inspectors and was continuing to hide banned chemical and biological weapons. In March 2003 U.S.-led forces invaded Iraq with the goals of removing Hussein from power and destroying the country’s alleged stockpiles of banned weapons. When Baghdād fell to U.S. forces in April, Hussein’s regime crumbled and he went into hiding. Following the U.S. invasion, no weapons of mass destruction were found. U.S. intelligence officials concluded that Iraq had dismantled its biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons programs (see U.S.-Iraq War).

In December 2003 U.S. forces captured Hussein at a farmhouse near Tikrīt. Hiding in a concealed underground chamber, the deposed leader was apprehended without a fight. The Americans delivered him to Iraqi authorities, who constructed a special court known as the Iraqi High Tribunal to try those members of the deposed regime charged with serious crimes. After a yearlong trial, the tribunal found Hussein guilty of crimes against humanity in November 2006 and sentenced him to death by hanging. The tribunal found that Hussein had ordered the executions of 148 men and boys in Dujail, a largely Shiite town, in retaliation for an assassination attempt against him in 1982. His execution was carried out in December 2006.

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Lelaki Sejati

Aku bertanya pada Ibu, bagaimana memilih Lelaki Sejati ?
Ibu menjawab, Nak..........

Laki-laki Sejati bukanlah dilihat dari bahunya yang kekar,
Tetapi dari kasih sayangnya pada orang disekitarnya

Laki-laki Sejati bukanlah dilihat dari suaranya yang lantang,
Tetapi dari kelembutannya mengatakan kebenaran

Laki-laki Sejati bukanlah dilihat dari jumlah sahabat di sekitarnya,
Tetapi dari sikap bersahabatnya pada generasi muda bangsa,..

Laki-laki Sejati bukanlah dilihat dari bagaimana dia dihormati ditempat
bekerja,
Tetapi dari bagaimana dia dihormati di dalam rumah,..

Laki-laki Sejati bukanlah dilihat dari kerasnya pukulan,
Tetapi dari sikap bijaknya memahami persoalan,..

Laki-laki Sejati bukanlah dilihat dari dadanya yang bidang,
Tetapi dari hati yang ada dibalik itu,..

Laki-laki Sejati bukanlah dilihat dari banyaknya wanita yg memuja,
Tetapi komitmennya terhadap wanita yang dicintainya,..

Laki-laki Sejati bukanlah dilihat dari barbel yang dibebankan,
Tetapi dari tabahnya dia menghadapi lika-liku kehidupan,..

Laki-laki Sejati bukanlah dilihat dari kerasnya membaca kitab suci,
Tetapi dari konsistennya dia menjalankan apa yang ia baca,..

InsyaAllah seperti itu,..

Apa itu Cinta ? Mengapa Menunggu ?

 

Mereka yang tidak menyukainya menyebutnya tanggung jawab,
Mereka yang bermain dengannya, menyebutnya sebuah permainan,
Mereka yang tidak memilikinya, menyebutnya sebuah impian,
Mereka yang mencintai, menyebutnya takdir.

Kadang Tuhan yang mengetahui yang terbaik, akan memberi kesusahan
untuk menguji kita. Kadang Ia pun melukai hati, supaya hikmat-Nya bisa
tertanam dalam.

Jika kita kehilangan cinta, maka pasti ada alasan di baliknya. Alasan yang
kadang sulit untuk dimengerti, namun kita tetap harus percaya bahwa
ketika Ia mengambil sesuatu, Ia telah siap memberi yang lebih baik.

Mengapa menunggu?
Karena walaupun kita ingin mengambil keputusan, kita tidak ingin tergesa-gesa.
Karena walaupun kita ingin cepat-cepat, kita tidak ingin sembrono.
Karena walaupun kita ingin segera menemukan orang yang kita cintai, kita
tidak ingin kehilangan jati diri kita dalam proses pencarian itu.

Jika ingin berlari, belajarlah berjalan dahulu,
Jika ingin berenang, belajarlah mengapung dahulu,
Jika ingin dicintai, belajarlah mencintai dahulu.

Pada akhirnya, lebih baik menunggu orang yang kita inginkan, ketimbang
memilih apa yang ada.
Tetap lebih baik menunggu orang yang kita cintai, ketimbang memuaskan
diri dengan apa yang ada.

Tetap lebih baik menunggu orang yang tepat, Karena hidup ini terlampau
singkat untuk dilewatkan bersama pilihan yang salah, karena menunggu
mempunyai tujuan yang mulia dan misterius.

Perlu kau ketahui bahwa Bunga tidak mekar dalam waktu semalam,
Kota Roma tidak dibangun dalam sehari,

Kehidupan dirajut dalam rahim selama sembilan bulan,
Cinta yang agung terus bertumbuh selama kehidupan.
Kebanyakan hal yang indah dalam hidup memerlukan waktu yang lama, Dan
penantian kita tidaklah sia-sia.

Walaupun menunggu membutuhkan banyak hal - iman, keberanian, dan
pengharapan - penantian menjanjikan satu hal yang tidak dapat seorangpun
bayangkan.

Pada akhirnya. Tuhan dalam segala hikmat-Nya, meminta kita menunggu,
karena alasan yang penting.

Arti Seorang Perempuan Bagi Laki-Laki

     Dia yang diambil dari tulang rusuk. Jika Tuhan memersatukan dua orang
yang berlawanan sifatnya, maka itu akan menjadi saling melengkapi.

     Dialah penolongmu yang sepadan, bukan lawan yang sepadan. Ketika
pertandingan dimulai, dia tidak berhadapan denganmu untuk melawanmu,
tetapi dia akan berada bersamamu untuk berjaga-jaga di belakang saat
engkau berada di depan, atau segera mengembalikan bola ketika bola itu
terlewat olehmu, dialah yang akan menutupi kekuranganmu.

     Dia ada untuk melengkapi yang tak ada dalam laki-laki : perasaan, emosi,
kelemahlembutan, keluwesan, keindahan, kecantikan, rahim untuk
melahirkan, mengurusi hal-hal yang kadang dianggap sepele.
Hingga ketika kau tidak mengerti hal-hal itu, dialah yang akan
menyelesaikan bagiannya. Sehingga tanpa kau sadari ketika menjalankan
sisa hidupmu... kau menjadi lebih kuat karena kehadirannya di sisimu. Jika
ada makhluk yang sangat bertolak belakang, kontras dengan lelaki, itulah
perempuan. Jika ada makhluk yang sanggup menaklukkan hati hanya dengan
sebuah senyuman, itulah perempuan.

      Ia tidak butuh argumentasi hebat dari seorang laki-laki, tetapi ia butuh
jaminan rasa aman darinya karena ia ada untuk dilindungi, tidak hanya
secara fisik tetapi juga emosi. Ia tidak tertarik kepada fakta-fakta yang
akurat, bahasa yang teliti dan logis yang bisa disampaikan secara detail
dari seorang laki-laki, tetapi yang ia butuhkan adalah perhatiannya, katakata
yang lembut, ungkapan-ungkapan sayang yang sepele, namun baginya
sangat berarti, membuatnya aman di dekatmu.

     Batu yang keras dapat terkikis habis oleh air yang luwes, sifat laki-laki
yang keras ternetralisir oleh kelembutan perempuan. Rumput yang lembut
tidak mudah tumbang oleh badai dibandingkan dengan pohon yang besar
dan rindang, seperti juga di dalam kelembutannya di situlah terletak
kekuatan dan ketahanan yang membuatnya bisa bertahan dalam situasi
apapun.

     Ia lembut bukan untuk diinjak, rumput yang lembut akan dinaungi oleh
pohon yang kokoh dan rindang. Jika lelaki berpikir tentang perasaan
perempuan, itu sepersekian dari hidupnya. Tetapi jika perempuan berpikir
tentang perasaan lelaki, itu akan menyita seluruh hidupnya.
Karena perempuan diciptakan dari tulang rusuk laki- laki, karena
perempuan adalah bagian dari laki-laki, apa yang menjadi bagian dari
hidupnya, akan menjadi bagian dari hidupmu. Keluarganya akan menjadi
keluarga barumu, keluargamu pun akan menjadi keluarganya juga. Sekalipun
ia jauh dari keluarganya, namun ikatan emosi kepada keluarganya tetap ada
karena ia lahir dan dibesarkan di sana. Karena mereka, ia menjadi seperti
sekarang ini. Perasaannya terhadap keluarganya, akan menjadi bagian dari
perasaanmu juga, karena kau dan dia adalah satu, dia adalah dirimu yang
tak ada sebelumnya. Ketika pertandingan dimulai, pastikan dia ada di bagian lapangan yang sama denganmu.

Delapan Kado Terindah

Delapan macam kado ini adalah hadiah terindah dan tak ternilai bagi
orang-orang yang Anda sayangi.

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KEHADIRAN
Kehadiran orang yang dikasihi rasanya adalah kado yang tak ternilai
harganya. Memang kita juga bisa hadir di hadapannya lewat surat, telepon,
foto atau faks. Namun dengan berada di sampingnya, anda dan dia dapat
berbagi perasaan, perhatian dan kasih sayang secara lebih utuh dan
intensif. Jadilah kehadiran anda sebagai pembawa kebahagiaan.

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MENDENGAR

Sedikit orang yang mampu memberikan kado ini. Sebab, kebanyakan orang
lebih suka didengarkan, ketimbang mendengarkan. Dengan mencurahkan
perhatian pada segala ucapannya, secara tak langsung kita juga telah
menumbuhkan kesabaran dan kerendahan hati. Untuk bisa mendengar
dengan baik, pastikan anda dalam keadaan betul-betul rileks dan bisa
menangkap utuh apa yang bisa disampaikan. Tatap wajahnya. Tidak perlu
menyela, mengkritik, apalagi menghakimi. Biarkan ia menuntaskannya, ini
memudahkan anda memberikan tanggapan yang tepat setelah itu. Tidak
harus berupa diskusi atau penilaian. Sekedar ucapan manispun akan
terdengar manis baginya.

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DIAM

Seperti kata-kata, di dalam diam juga ada kekuatan. Diam bisa dipakai
untuk menghukum, mengusir atau membingungkan orang. Tapi lebih dari
segalanya, diam juga bisa menunjukkan kecintaan kita pada seseorang
karena memberinya ”ruang”. Terlebih jika sehari-hari kita sudah terbiasa
gemar menasehati, mengatur, mengkritik bahkan mengomel.

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KEBEBASAN

Mencintai seseorang bukan berarti memberi kita hak penuh untuk memiliki
atau mengatur kehidupan orang bersangkutan. Bisakah kita mengaku
mencintai seseorang jika kita selalu mengekangnya? Memberi kebebasan
adalah salah satu perwujudan cinta. Makna kebebasan bukanlah ”Kau bebas
berbuat semaumu”. Lebih dalam dari itu, memberi kebebasan adalah
memberinya kepercayaan penuh untuk bertangung jawab atas segala hal
yang ia putuskan atau lakukan.

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KEINDAHAN
Siapa yang tak bahagia, jika orang yang disayangi tiba-tiba tampil lebih
ganteng atau cantik? Tampil indah dan rupawan juga merupakan sebuah
kado yang indah. Selain keindahan penampilan pribadi, andapun bisa
menghadiahkan keindahan suasana di rumah. Vas dan bunga segar cantik di
ruang keluarga atau meja makan yang tertata indah, misalnya.

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TANGGAPAN POSITIF
Tanpa sadar, sering kita memberikan penilaian negatif terhadap pikiran,
sikap atau tindakan orang yang kita sayangi. Seolah-olah tidak ada yang
benar dari dirinya dan kebenaran mutlak hanya pada kita. Kali ini, coba
hadiahkan tanggapan positif. Nyatakan dengan jelas dan tulus. Cobalah
ingat, berapa kali dalam seminggu terakhir anda mengucapkan terima kasih
atas segala hal yang dilakukannya demi anda. Ingat-ingat pula, pernahkah
anda memujinya. Kedua hal itu, ucapan terima kasih dan pujian (dan juga
permintaan maaf) adalah kado indah yang sering terlupakan.

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KESEDIAAN MENGALAH
Tidak semua masalah layak menjadi bahan pertengkaran. Apalagi sampai
menjadi pertengkaran yang hebat. Bila anda memikirkan hal ini, berarti
anda siap memberikan kado ”kesediaan mengalah”. Kesediaan untuk
mengalah juga dapat melunturkan sakit hati dan mengajak kita menyadari
bahwa tidak ada manusia yang sempurna di dunia ini.

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SENYUMAN

Percaya atau tidak, kekuatan senyuman amat luar biasa. Senyuman,
terlebih yang diberikan dengan tulus, bisa menjadi pencair hubungan yang
beku, pemberi semangat dalam keputusasaan, pencerah suasana muram,
bahkan obat penenang jiwa yang resah. Senyuman juga merupakan isyarat
untuk membuka diri dengan dunia sekeliling kita. Kapan terakhir kali anda
menghadiahkan senyuman manis pada orang yang dikasihi?