Literary experts offer unity concept

Literary experts offer unity concept

MEDAN, North Sumatra: At least 150 literary experts began a
national conference in the North Sumatra capital of Medan on
Monday, offering cultural approaches to prevent the country from
breaking apart.

The three-day conference of the Indonesian Literature
Association (Hiski), entitled Indonesian Literature and the
Problem of Cultural Pluralism, was attended by several literary
experts from the neighboring nations of Malaysia and Brunei.

The participants said the forum will issue a recommendation to
help the diversely-populated country maintain unity among the
people by promoting local cultures.

In his opening speech to the conference, Hiski chairman
Mursal Esten said threats of disintegration in the provinces of
Aceh, Riau and Papua (Irian Jaya) were due to the government's
failure to adopt the strategy of preserving traditional cultures
of respective regions.

"East Timor will not have seceded from Indonesia if the
government used such a cultural strategy," he added. -- JP