Vice President Jusuf Kalla, Yogyakarta Governor Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X, Youth and Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan, cardinals and bishops, as well as members of the Yogyakarta Leaders Council greet participants of the Asian Youth Day 2017 in the closing ceremony of the AYD at the Dirgantara Air Force Academy Field, Yogyakarta, Sunday (8/6). The AYD event in Indonesia serves as a good opportunity to promote and showcase Indonesia’s diversity and its spirit of tolerance amid various differences.
YOGYAKARTA, KOMPAS – Indonesia’s diverse ethnicities, cultures and religions, supported by a high level of tolerance, impressed the thousands of participants hailing from 22 Asian countries during Asian Youth Day 2017. The pan-Asian meeting of youth, where participants were able to witness the unique diversity of Indonesia, is hoped to strengthen their collective commitment to achieve peace in both Asia and the world.
Michaela Ruth Gallardo from Hong Kong and Freddie Rodrigues from Timor-Leste represented more than 2,000 Asian Youth Day (AYD) 2017 participants when they delivered a joint statement in front of Vice President Jusuf Kalla, state ministers, bishops, imams and around 18,000 Catholics during AYD 2017’s closing mass at the Air Force Academy’s Dirgantara Field in Yogyakarta on Sunday (6/8/2017).
During the AYD, held at 11 dioceses on July 30-Aug. 2 and on Aug. 2-Aug. 6, 2017, Michaela, Freddie and thousands of participants from 22 countries experienced an atmosphere of hospitality and tolerance despite their language, cultural and religious barriers.
Apart from meeting with other Catholic youths, they also met and shared their experiences with hundreds of Muslim youths who accompanied the AYD participants’ journey to several regions in Yogyakarta and Central Java.
“In a highly multicultural Asia, we live among differences in religion, language, ethnicity and culture. We must be able to welcome those who are different from us,” Michaela said.
Jusuf Kalla said that he was grateful for the thousands of youths from Asian countries who had visited and witnessed what Indonesia possessed and what the country strived for.
“Indonesia is highly plural, but we respect one another. Sometimes, frictions occur like in other countries. Therefore, we have to campaign for pluralism and for mutual respect. Our differences are our strength,” he said.
Kalla also encouraged the AYD’s youth participants to master science and technology and to work together in anticipating conflicts, which could affect any country in the world.
Youth and Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi said that Indonesia was home to 1,331 ethnicities, each with their own language. Despite the differences, they all recognized the unity of the Republic of Indonesia. “If you wish to learn about harmony, learn about it from Indonesia,” he said.
Yogyakarta governor Hamengkubuwono X said that he hoped the AYD 2017 forum could generate action, so that such events could serve as a foundation for new social movements in which the younger generation campaigned for love towards one another. The Sultan said that he hoped youth could learn to appreciate harmony in life and tolerance in religious life, as well as building an interfaith brotherhood.
