Gus Dur concerned about preserving national culture

YOGYAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid said on Friday night during a Javanese ritual Ruwatan Sukerto in Yogyakarta that he had asked Sultan Hamengkubuwono X to chair a board which will deal with the dynamic movement of national culture in facing modernization and globalization.

"I will establish a board, I haven't got any idea of its name, that will be responsible for making a frame for dialogue between the new and local cultures," Abdurrahman said in a ritual to cast away evil and bad fetish for the nation at the Balairung hall of the Gajah Mada University (UGM).

"The board will further classify which ones are local, old cultures and which ones are the new cultures," he added.

The Friday event was chaired by Hariadi Dharmawan of the Alumni Association of the University of Indonesia as well as fellow UGM scholars.

"I know that many will protest the appointment of Sultan Hamengkubuwono X as he is a Javanese King. This board will not only deal with Javanese culture but all cultures nation-wide.

"For me, the Sultan is the one who can symbolize two distinctive characters, first as a bureaucrat and second as the representation of 'culture concern'," he said.

From day to day the country has witnessed strong attacks on our cultural heritage, he said.

"If we're not careful with the extensive development of IT (Information Technology), as a nation we can loose everything. It's not that I'm against the new culture, but I think it has to be modified with the local custom.

"I know that many will say this is only a waste of money. But I think the core of the nation's problem is here. Therefore, we will pay whatever it takes to straighten this up," Abdurrahman added.

The President jokingly expressed his relief over the completion of the Annual Session.

"Now the Batara Kala is over as for days I have to hear the Batara Kala speaking. Well, the MPR Annual Session was the Batara Kala," he said, raising cheers from the audience.

Batara Kala is a giant in Javanese shadow puppet shows that symbolizes bad luck. (44/edt)