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124 State Defense members introduced to nationalism
Recruited as the members of the Bela Negara (State Defense) program, 124 school aged youths from areas across Papua attended a three-day-training, where they learned the fundamentals of state defense and nationalism.
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A sense of nationalism -- Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu puts a pin on one of the Bela Negara (State Defense) program recruits in an inauguration ceremony in Skouw-Wutung, on the Indonesia-Papua New Guinea border, on Tuesday. (JP/Nethy Dharma Somba)
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ecruited as the members of the Bela Negara (State Defense) program, 124 school aged youths from areas across Papua attended a three-day-training, where they learned the fundamentals of state defense and nationalism.
“The state defense program is aimed at implanting love to our motherland for the sake of national unity under the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia [NKRI],” said Yonif 122/TS Task Force commander Lt. Col. Kohir on Thursday.
“We hope that by participating in the state defense program, all youths, who previously tended to only prioritize their personal and group interests, can change their behavior, becoming a person who always puts the country and nation’s best interests over anything,” he went on.
The 124 state defense recruits also learned about social ethics and the dangers of drugs and narcotics during the training, which was held at the Skouw-Wutung border area in Jayapura, Papua, from Sept.18 to 20. The camp provided outbound activities to improve their leadership and communication skills as well.
As reported earlier, Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu inaugurated 124 state defense members in Skouw-Wutung, the border area of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea (PNG), on Tuesday. Thirty out of the 124 recruits are street children currently handled by the Jayapura Social Affairs Agency.
“State defense awareness is very important because it becomes the power of this nation for the sake of the NKRI and can guarantee the safety of this nation from all kinds of threats coming from inside or outside the country,” he said.
In the event, Ryamizard was declared a Skouw Mabo native son. “We hope he can help protect people on this Indonesia-PNG border,” Skouw Mabo village leader Yans S. Mallo said. (ebf)
