Muslim Women’s Forum of Universitas Gadjah Mada hosted a gathering in Grha Sabha Pramana hall at UGM on Thursday (6/7) to celebrate Eid al-Fitr. With the theme Improving Oneself to Reach Ultimate Happiness, the event presented celebrity speakers, Astri Ivo and Dewi Sandra.
Rector of UGM, Prof. Ir. Panut Mulyono, M.Eng., D.Eng, in his remarks said the theme of the event had the meaning of moving upward. After one month of fasting, many lessons can be attained such as time management, controlling desires, etc.
The Forum is expected to be the media to improve the faith and piety of the believers as well as to share experiences. Related to the teme, the Rector asked people to improve themselves. “After one month of fasting during Ramadan, now hopefully we can improve ourselves in terms of faith and piety, and so on,” he said.
Dewi Sandra said along with the times, one has to improve their quality of life. Dewi shared her experience in the past that had not made her happy. She admitted when she as a celebrity had pursued wrong goals which temporarily made her happy but not long lasting. “The failures I made and hardships in the past made me realise that what was wrong was actually me. My quality of life was bad, even more so my own quality,” she confessed.
According to Dewi Sandra, the fake happiness she felt at that time, was because she had not involved God in her life, which made her life harsh.
“In retrospect, it was dilemmatic to get out of the comfort zone, it was not easy but I had to abandon it because to be a Muslim we have to be patient and sincere,” she testified.
Astri Ivo added that the happiness experienced by the people that went through the Ramadan was because they can control their desires and wishes towards those that are approved by God. In her opinion, happy people are those that are able to face life challenges whilst not complaining and still performing their duties in life.