HMI advised to face development challenges

HMI advised to face development challenges

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto has told the Association of Islamic Students (HMI) to rise to the challenges of the increasingly competitive world by developing all its resources.

"Seize the spirit of fastabiqul khairat (racing toward righteousness, to do things that are good)," Soeharto told the students as he opened the organization's 20th congress at the Merdeka Palace on Saturday. The nine-day meeting continued on Sunday at the Sukolilo Haj Dormitory in Surabaya.

He reminded the HMI, many of whose alumnae now occupy important positions in society, that the nation is facing a very competitive world and that it is determined to catch up with other, more advanced countries.

"We want to be a country which stands alongside other nations as an equal," he said. "That's why we need to develop our potential, our talents, our resources and all of our abilities."

This is the first time that Soeharto has opened a congress of the HMI or of any other student organization. Vice President Try Sutrisno will close the congress, which is being attended by some 1,500 people, on Jan. 29.

Soeharto said that as a nation of fighters which had been born and grown up in conditions of hardship and danger, Indonesia is familiar with challenges.

"For a quarter of a century, during the first long-term development plan, we have proven that we are able to change our fate in an organized, controlled manner," he said. "And now we are preparing to face the next quarter of a century...We need to...prepare and move our nation to welcome the new era of national development."

Soeharto said the HMI represents one among "many of the country's potentialities which...actively take part in the major endeavor of national development".

With the spirit of "competing to do good", Soeharto said, Indonesia is relying more and more on people's initiative and creativity.

"The government's role in national development is more in strategic aspects, especially in the establishment of conditions and opportunities, in supporting and protecting the nation's strengths."

Islam provides great opportunities for its followers to be active and to advance in the economic sector, as the Prophet Muhammad illustrated during his lifetime, Soeharto said.

"Don't forget: in his youth, the Prophet was an honest and successful tradesman," Soeharto said. "He personally showed that working and seeking reasonable profits...is halal (permissible under Islamic laws)."

"From his example, we can learn to develop our people's business ethics in the future," he said.

Prior to the congress, observers had speculated about whether the HMI would use the meeting to reaffirm a mission it agreed upon at the time of its establishment in 1947, which was that of being an Islam-oriented student movement laying stress upon academic life.

Some observers believe that the HMI will be divided over whether it should "return to the campus" or be more politically active. They have predicted that some heated debates may take place on the kind of role the HMI should be playing in the present day, especially concerning politics.

At the top of the congress' agenda, however, is the election of its leadership board and the drafting of its program for the next five years.

Minister of Home Affairs Yogie S.M. recently called on the organization to tackle the congress' agenda well, so that it would not have to face divisive bickerings such as those that were occurring in other organizations. (swe)