North Kalimantan Governor: Four Pillars Quiz Strengthens Student Nationalism

North Kalimantan Governor Zainal A. Paliwang stated that the 2026 MPR RI Four Pillars Quiz (LCC) is a means of strengthening nationalism and student character through understanding national values. “This competition is one of the means to foster a spirit of nationhood and statehood from an early age,” he said in a statement received in Jakarta on Monday. While opening the North Kalimantan-level MPR RI Four Pillars Quiz on Saturday (25/7), Zainal invited students to understand and practice the values of the MPR RI Four Pillars in daily life. According to him, the activity also serves as a means to sharpen critical thinking skills, cooperation, sportsmanship, and love for the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI). He explained that the MPR RI Four Pillars—Pancasila as the state foundation and ideology, the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia as the state constitution, the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia as the form of the state, and Bhinneka Tunggal Ika as the national motto—are not merely material to be memorised to win a competition. Amidst dynamic developments, he said character education holds equal importance to academic achievement. A great nation, he continued, not only requires a generation that is intellectually intelligent but also one with integrity, a sense of patriotism, a spirit of mutual cooperation, and responsibility towards the nation. He said the current young generation is the generation that will determine the success or failure of the grand vision of Golden Indonesia 2045. By that time, Indonesia will enter an era of demographic bonus, when the productive-age population dominates. He expressed hope that the MPR RI Four Pillars Quiz would produce a young generation in North Kalimantan that is intelligent and of good character, possesses strong national insight, and is ready to become the nation’s future leaders. “Hopefully, from this event, a young generation of North Kalimantan will emerge that is intelligent, of good character, has national insight, and is ready to become the nation’s future leaders,” he said.