Tourism Is a Necessity
A beautiful nature does not always bring benefit, especially if the irresponsible hands have already entered. But the Pemenang society is at least grateful to be given the green hills and the beautiful blue sea, as well as the Three Gili with their white sand that can attract anyone to come.That tourism is a necessity; there is nobody in Pemenang who could resist it and Pasirputih could not either. So, the Pasirputih movement today is moving the society to care for and maintain Pemenang, its people and the most important thing is preserving the nature and the environment.
Since it is necessary, then the tourism needs a lot of improvement because I am very aware that a lot of my relatives, family, neighbors and friends earn money for living from that field. And from them I get the complaints about the tourism.
They complain about the convenience of tourists, about the chaotic Bangsal, about the ticket mafia, about the workers who do not serve well, about drugs, about prostitution and various other problems. However, instead of fixing the problem, the Government massively promotes the tourism. This is the opposite of cutting your coat according to your cloth.
Recently in the local newspaper, there were many people who highlighted on the fake tickets case that involved certain elements. And then in other news there were also reported that the Treasurer of the Tourism Agency disappeared and the relation of this problem with other agencies. Meanwhile with the very large amount of revenue from tourism, the garbage can problem in Bangsal was not solved. The issue of labor discipline was still just a discourse. How much profit from the tourism that was distributed to the community of Pemenang? Some time ago, I met the Regional Secretary of North Lombok. He said, “The most important thing of our tourism now is improvement. The promotion problem of the Three Gili has already been solved. Now the most important thing is improvement.” This expression would be good to be taken into consideration.
In Islamic history, we know the term ‘hijrah’ from the origin of the word ‘Hajara’ which means moving from one place to another. The biggest Hijrah in the history of Islam was done by Muhammad SAW and his followers to Yatsrib. On Friday, the 12th of Rabi’ul Awal, coinciding with the 24th September 622, Muhammad SAW and his followers arrived in Yatsrib, welcomed with warmth and a tight brotherhood. Yatsrib itself was a quiet town which had fertile soil and plenty of water. Its society consisted of farmers and traders. Yatsrib also had a potential geographical location as a trade route. If we compare the North Lombok with Yatsrib, there is a similarity between both of them. North Lombok has fertile soil and people who make a living from agricultural and field product. Most importantly, a special note for Pemenang is that it becomes a strategic connecting location of tourism (business and commercial district).
The interesting thing about Muhammad SAW’s strategy is how he combined two great powers. They were the power of muhajirin (immigrants) and the power of anshor (local people who were ready to help). With those two great powers, Yatsrib later changed its name to Medina Al-Munawwarah, a city that full of light. We can see these two powers in the process of AKUMASSA Chronicle.
