Students speak out on diversity

Kurniawan Hari , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sun, 05/11/2008 12:34 PM | Discover

Wearing a black suit and polished shoes, Kurnia Trisno Yudhonegoro came on stage to deliver a speech about religious tolerance. A student at Brawijaya University (Unibraw) in Malang, East Java, Kurnia believes that there is a connection between religious tolerance and the economy.

He underlined that most social clashes that broke out in the country were caused by business rivalries, usually between a newcomer and local groups.

But when opportunities were open to everyone, he said, peace would occur.

"By alleviating economic problems, we will also eradicate the question of religious clashes once for all," he said.

Kurnia was one of the speakers of the Youth and Multiculturalism Conference, which was organized in Jakarta by the Faculty of Cultural Studies at the University of Indonesia (UI) and the United States Embassy's Regional English Language Office (RELO).

The event, held from May 1-3, was designed to provide students with a forum to exchange their views in English with their peers.

"Through this event, we encourage students to improve their English from an early age. When they grow older, they will speak at international conferences," said Jeffrey Kealing, an English language fellow at UI's Language Service Program (PPB), who emphasized the need for students to develop their public speaking skills.

"It will be better if they prepare as early as possible. We try to give some coaching to make them confident," he added.

Kealing said that religious tolerance was not the only theme of the discussion. During the three-day conference, the participants discussed seven topics: Religious

Tolerance in Indonesia, Expressions of Diversity in Art and the Mass Media, Lifestyle as Expression of Multiculturalism, Science and Technology as Tools to Express Diversity, Diversity in Indonesian Culture, Diversity of Indonesian Society for Potential Business and Marketing Strategies, and Law as a Device to Appreciate Diversity in Indonesia. According him, as many as 70 students from different universities took part in the event.

UI student Prita Nur Aini said she was glad to attend this kind of youth conference.

"I gained a lot of things from this event. I learned how to respect the cultures of other communities," said Prita, who majors in archeology.

Together with fellow student Regina Manik, Prita wrote a paper about religious tolerance as was practiced by students at the UI campus, titled "Religious Tolerance in University of Indonesia".

Prita said that interactions among her peers at the university served as a model of how to build friendships regardless of religious backgrounds.

Regina added that UI students had long been supporting each other to create a harmonious campus for all.

"When we need as many as 800 signatures in support of a Catholic organization here, we quickly obtain them from fellow students of different religions," she added as an example.

Meanwhile, conference project officer Anissa R. Beta said that participants to the event came from universities in Jakarta, Bengkulu and Riau (Sumatra), Bandung (West Java), Surakarta and Semarang (Central Java), Yogyakarta and Malang (East Java).

"Students from Mataram in West Nusa Tenggara also submitted papers, but they could not come," she noted.

Anissa said she hoped a similar event could be organized next year to provide young students with a forum to exchange their views and opinions, and that this would be determined by evaluation.

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