Malang - Students of the University of Muhammadiyah Malang (UMM) one more showed its achivement in national competition.This time, UMM succeed in Lomba Karya Komik Tokoh Nasional (LKKTS), a comics contest held by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The final round of this competition  was held at the same time with Pekan Nasional Cinta Sejarah (Pentas) 2011, a national week of loving history, in Palu of Central Sulawesi, Saturday-Sunday (9/17-18).

 

In the event held by the Directorate General of History and Archaeology, UMM team won the second place. Meanwhile, the first winner was taken by a student majoring in History from University of Udayana and the third winner was placed by a student of Public Welfare from IPB. Additionally,  theUMM team was the only team coming from private university which succeed entering the big five.

 

"We are very proud of entering the top five. Moreover, all our competitors came from state universities majoring in history and other social sciences," said Khairul Uman Al Maududy Umam, UMM student from Biology Department, one of the team members, on Tuesday (9/20). Another member also was not from social department, but the Department of Mathematics, Nidia Yannika Sari. Aside from being a team leader, Umam was also the illustrator of the comics. Meanwhile, the narrative was written by Yannika.

 

Umam raised a theme "Bung Tomo, the Spirit Arouser". According to him, Bung Tomo was very suitable for his comic character. "Bung Tomo is a figure in which references about him in pieces of books or comics are still rare. In addition, Bung Tomo was also a figure with high ideallism unwavering principles, and high social sensitivity," he said.

 

Moreover, Bung Tomo was not only a great orator, but also a respected fighter on the battlefield. Umam argued, speaking of history there were names and events, and event of November 10, was a phenomenal war. Bung Tomo-led war was very heroic. "I live in East Java. Thus, I picked up the theme of Bung Tomo because fierce battles in the world happened in East Java," said this student from Bali.

 

The process of making the comic lasted for two weeks. The comic illustration set in Surabaya was about elementary school children named Farhan and Dewik who had still less knowledge of the event of November 10. Thus, their teachers asked the pupils to visit a museum. They began to know if these events arose from the name “Bung Tomo”. In addition, from the story of Bung Tomo and his actions in November 10 war told by the guide of the museum, there were arising intention to emulate the spirit and values ​​of Bung Tomo. Therefore, they became more enthusiastic about learning.

 

 "This comic contains the correct theme telling about little children who needed someone noble and commendable to be a model example," added Yannika who wrote the narrative.

 

UMM Vice Rector III, Joko Widodo, said that he was proud with his student achievement. He promised to continuously spur achievement through various coaching ways, including providing financial incentives for the winners of the competition. "There is no achievement we do not appreciate," said Joko.