Skip to main content

Diversity is destiny

Competition between pair Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (known as Ahok) - Djarot Saiful Hidayat and Anis Baswedan - Sandiaga Uno in the Jakarta gubernatorial election has ended. Although the scale of this election is only for Jakarta, this political contestation has a wide influence in Indonesia and gained international attention. Because for the first time a candidate, namely Basuki Tjahaja Purnama is from "double minority" background that is ethnic Chinese and Christian

I do not want to talk at length about the first paragraph in this post because I'm sure everyone in Indonesia already knows about the political tension behind it and how its influence to the national unity. I am only interested in conveying the philosophical message to you all in relation to that matter.

Diversity is destiny. So that is destiny if Indonesia consist of multi ethnics: Chinese, Balinese, Javanese, Sundanese, Acehnese, Irian, etc. More globally there are white, yellow, black. We can not choose to be born as what tribe or nation as we want. We can not choose to be born into Muslim, Christian, or Buddhist family. We can not choose to be born into rich family. That is God's choice !!! So diversity is the grace from God. The biggest problem is not everyone realizes that it is God's choice.

Fortunately Indonesia has national four pillars to unite thousands of islands, tribes, cultures, customs, and languages in it, namely:

  1. Pancasila as the foundation of the country.
  2. Undang-Undang Dasar 1945 (in English : 1945 Constitution) as the state constitution.
  3. Negara Kesatuan Republik Indonesia (in English: The Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia) as the form of the country.
  4. Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (in English : Unity In Diversity) as the motto of the country.

I hope the fourth pillar, Unity In Diversity, can be adopted by the United Nations as a universal value for this world. Do you agree?

Labels:

Comments

  1. Anton20/7/17

    The problem is that many Indonesians have forgotten about the fourth pillar. They think diversity is a problem and must be eliminated.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tikno20/7/17

      Well, just one word: "ego".
      Correct?

      Delete
    2. Ross29/7/17

      Many? Agree but not majority.

      Delete

Post a Comment

NOTE: Comments are moderated to block spam. Genuine comments will be published even if you are critical or disagree with me. Hate speech, personal attacks, ads, or spam will be removed.

POPULAR POSTS LAST 7 DAYS:

VETO VS DEMOCRACY

In this post I only quotes the things associated with the two words above. Please use your sense and read carefully to find and feel the fundamental differences from it. VETO According to Wikipedia : A veto, Latin for I FORBID , is used to denote that a certain party has the right to stop unilaterally a certain piece of legislation. In practice, the veto can be ABSOLUTE (as in the U.N. Security Council, whose permanent members can block any resolution). In the United Nations Security Council, the five permanent members (the United States, Russia, the People's Republic of China, France and the United Kingdom) have veto power in substantive matters, though NOT in procedural ones. If any of these countries votes against a proposal, it is REJECTED , even if all of the other member countries vote in favor. According to Global Policy Forum : "The five permanent members of the Security Council (China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, and United States) ENJOY the privilege of veto po...
84 comments
Read More about VETO VS DEMOCRACY

LGBT and Human Rights: Where Do We Draw the Line?

The existence of LGBT people in society is a fact. Legally, some countries legalize their status, while the majority of others still do not. What influences someone to become LGBT? There's a whole range of hypotheses, from the viewpoint of genetic, psychological, psychosocial, and personal experience. It is too long to write here, so please read it on the internet. The logical question is, who doesn't want to have a normal family (father, mother and biological children)? Sometimes I can understand that people who experience same-sex sexual desire are not their logical choice. LGBT people demand their rights using human rights arguments. Meanwhile, the majority use arguments that apply in society. Indeed, this is a complex phenomenon, like between liberals and conservatives. So, what is my view on this phenomenon? Well, I was born and raised in eastern culture, a religious society. But I tend to think moderately. Personal freedom of LGBT people in society to live and earn a livi...
32 comments
Read More about LGBT and Human Rights: Where Do We Draw the Line?

Dam burst tragedy and three important notes

On Friday, March 27, 2009, Situ Gintung dam at Cirendeu, Tangerang, southeast of Jakarta, has broken-down and the water flooded like a small tsunami, washing away cars, houses and settlement area. Ninety nine people were killed and 102 others were missing (update the number of victims from www.kompas.com on Tuesday, March 31, 2009). My condolence for victims and their family. From all of that, there are three important notes that I want to share through this blog. First , it is indeed the embankment that broken-down was caused by excessive debit of water. Situ Gintung levee was originally built under Dutch colonial authorities era, only able to accommodate 1 million cubic of water, while the debit of water before the incident has reached 2 million cubic of water debit. There should be early warning for residents who live around the embankment when felt there was something that threatens the safety of citizens. In Situ Gintung actually already there, but not work well. Second , allotm...
50 comments
Read More about Dam burst tragedy and three important notes