We are enthusiastic about welcoming National Culture Week (PKN), which will take place on 7-13 Oct. 2019. The event is not simply a forum for cultural competitions.
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We are enthusiastic about welcoming National Culture Week (PKN), which will take place on 7-13 Oct. 2019. The event is not simply a forum for cultural competitions.
National Culture Week is to represent regional cultural wealth on a national stage. The PKN is one of the resolutions produced at the 2018 Indonesian Cultural Congress, and is expected to facilitate the continuing creative interaction of cultures from all over Indonesia.
The performing arts are most closely associated with culture, and have naturally become the main attraction of the PKN 2019. There will certainly be regional performing arts, but the event has also promised four other activities: traditional games, conferences, exhibitions and the Digdaya Nusantara Parade.
Culture also incorporates science and technology, philosophy and religion. We also hope that these elements will be highlighted at later PKNs. Some of the topics to be mentioned include traditional knowledge, the origin of DNA, ecology, ethno-astronomy, ethno-botany and food security.
These topics are interesting and we believe it will attract the public interest. One note of importance is that the event should not focus on past cultures, but rather, that it should paint a portrait of contemporary culture and its role in advancing and elevating the nation. We underline this, bearing in mind the urgency for the Indonesian people in journeying ahead.
We shouldn’t be concerned about art and culture, because there are many riches that can be shown to the world, from batik to dance arts, to handicrafts and to culinary arts. However, we still have a big job to do in character building, through scientific and technological achievements, as well as in terms of national values.
It can be reasonably hoped that the PKN can also inspire the birth of superior Indonesians who possess high ideals for the nation, even the world. We take issue with this because as far as we can observe, we have to admit many people in the nation seem to feel content with mediocrity, living and thinking and working modestly. Due to their limited vision, they are lulled into comfort and complacency. We are lagging behind other nations.
In science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), a PISA study indicates less than encouraging results for young Indonesians. We cannot compare with China or even Vietnam, which was in a war when we started the Repelita five-year development program and our students were already left behind.
Regarding the environment, the PKN must undoubtedly issue an urgent resolution to anticipate the effects of global warming, which is expected to submerge Jakarta in the coming decades, among others.
Culture must also be the base for searching our souls that do not care for others, nature or the environment, and to nurture harmonious and dignified souls. This is truly our hope. We raise this matter to avoid a culture week that ends up producing ordinary results that are quickly forgotten.