Solidaritas.net, Cikarang – Although the labor must do heavy and hard work in the factories, it does not mean that they only think about their work and life. Some of them are still curious for knowledge. They are actively involved in various activities to improve their knowledge and insight.
One of them is ‘Kelompok Baca Bumi Manusia’ (KBBM / The Earth of Mankind Reading Group) which invited labor to read and discuss the book entitled “Bumi Manusia” authored by the litterateur Pramoedya Ananta Toer.Through this reading group, the labor was invited to be active readers, thus they can open their mind and affect their mindset about many things.
“Full of inspiration and knowledge, and it should be published in Solidaritas frequently so that the other labor reads it too. All this time, inviting labor to read is so difficult. I hope the agenda of KBBM Road Show would continue to run to make labor interested in reading,” said Atang to Solidaritas.net, one of labor in PT Mustika Bevananda Cikarang, who was involved actively in this reading group, Tuesday (04/21/2015).
KBBM was initiated by former factory labor who quit because of contract termination. Wahyu the 25-year-old man admitted that labor’s reading interest was poor, and it was the main reason for him to establish this event. When he was supported by Solidaritas.net activists, he held the inaugural meeting on 13 November 2014 at the office of the media alternative for laborers.
Up till now, Wahyu and the labors from various companies had a regular meeting in every Thursday night. Even for several times, they held it in some factories in order to be closer to labor. By this reading group, he expected that in the future laborers will be interested in reading.
“Almost in every KBBM meeting, I always remind my friends about the positive effect of appreciating literature. By the reading group, I hope that my fellow laborers becomes aware of the importance of reading culture, thus they are not merely fooled by their employers in the factories, and also the country in general,” said the man who is now working as a teacher in one of high school in Bekasi.
Andri Yunarko, other KBBM participants, also reaped direct benefits from this reading group, although he just actively involved since March 2015 last month.”KBBM is interesting and very helpful. The reading forum and discussion is not only about Pramoedya’s novel entitled “Bumi Manusia”, but it is also about culture, history, problem faced by labors, and even family problems,” addedthe former factory labor who is now actively involved in the Solidaritas.net activity.
Source: Solidaritas.net
