Suara.com Invites Indonesian Youth to Celebrate the Beauty of Diversity

TheIndonesia.id - Suara.com and Yoursay.id invited the Indonesian youngsters to celebrate the beauty of diversity on Indonesia Diversity Day with talk show about pluralism and writing competition.

On the Beauty of Diversity: Youth and Pluralism talk show, held at the headquarters of Suarajogja.id in Sleman, Yogyakarta, speakers discussed diversity in Indonesia, and how it could become the source of strength for all Indonesians.

Activist Inayah Wahid said, in a way, diversity is Indonesia’s “fate”, and Indonesians have to find a way to deal with that fact and find the beauty in it.

“No matter how much we disagree, [that fact] won’t go away,” she said during the event on Monday, June 20. “I think of it as a source of strength.”

Triyono, founder of online transportation that works with people with disabilities Difa Bike, agreed with the statement and shared story from the past about how friends from different backgrounds were always willing to support him.

“Even back in university, I had a friend from Boyolali that would pick me up at my house in Sukoharjo. If he didn’t try to understand [my condition], he wouldn’t have gone that far to help me,” he said.

Also present as speaker at the event was Joshua Jerusalem Dilapangga, and all speakers agreed that diversity needs to be protected, and Indonesians have all the opportunity to make it something positive.

Besides the talk show, Suara.com also invited talented writers and journalists to participate in a writing competition on celebrating diversity.

From 78 essays submitted, “Bhineka Tunggal Tawa, Berbeda-beda Ternyata Sama Saja” by Anggun Munan won the third place, “Trauma yang Beraroma Rasisme, Mengantarkanku pada Pertemuan yang Hangat” by Maria Anggraeni Rahmawati won the second spot, and “Belajar Arti Keberagaman secara Langsung dari Klenteng Tertua di Tanah Jawa” by M Fuad was chosen as the first winner in the competition.

Editor-in-chief of Suara.com Suwarjono, who was also one of the judges, said the competition sought to show Indonesia’s rich diversity, and Suara.com aimed to be the platform for writers to share their views to wider audience.

“The most important thing of this competition is that, as a citizen, these writers have an incredible awareness about diversity,” Suwarjono said.

“Hopefully, this competition can continue in the future, so more people can be involved in understanding diversity.”