Try wants youth to lead drive to buy RI goods
JAKARTA (JP): Vice President Try Sutrisno urged Indonesian youth yesterday to pioneer the national drive to buy locally- manufactured goods.
"To love our domestic products and services is crucial in this era of global competition and liberalization," Try said in a speech commemorating Youth Pledge Day.
"One the one hand, loving domestic products is a manifestation of one's patriotism. On the other, it saves on foreign exchange which would make our balance of payments healthier and fairer," he said in a ceremony at Jakarta Convention Center.
Try also opened the congress of the National Youth Committee (KNPI), an umbrella group for youth organizations in the country.
On Oct. 28, 1928, representatives of youth from Java, Sumatra and other islands in the archipelago, which were still under Dutch rule at the time, met in Jakarta to pledge to work towards one state, one nation and one language: Indonesia. The day has been known since then as Youth Pledge Day.
Try called on Indonesia's youth to pioneer the campaign to encourage people to use the Indonesian language properly and correctly.
"Bahasa Indonesia, as the language that unifies this nation, must be continuously developed, used, and treated with gratitude and pride, seriousness and appreciation," he said.
The Vice President criticized the growing trend among some members of society to flaunt their wealth, describing the practice as "not only unhealthy but also detrimental to the competitiveness of the nation's economy and to the overall development program."
He said people must be more frugal and save part of their income, he said.
Indonesian people need to be unified to face the growing global economic competition, he said.
"Without unity, we will always be preoccupied with our differences at the expense of our development.
"We will remain at the rear in the global race. We won't have the time, energy or intelligence to accelerate our development programs because our attention will be focused on solving our internal problems," he said.
If today's youth cannot preserve unity, and if they put their own interests ahead of the nation, "then they should feel ashamed to be compared to their predecessors who had the courage to declare national Indonesian unity in the midst of colonial rule," he said.
Try underscored the need to strengthen human resources. "Indonesian youth will play an important role in the future and must prepare themselves to answer all the nations problems," he said.
The KNPI committee should work on being an orderly and disciplined umbrella group for all Indonesian youth, and not restrict membership to affiliated youth organizations, said Try.
"All members and all youth are eligible cadres in the national struggle and development," he said.
KNPI is holding its eighth congress at Pondok Gede Haj Dormitory in East Jakarta. One of the main tasks of the congress, is to revamp its image and reputation.
Analysts have claimed that KNPI has lost its independence and has been used by its leaders for their personal political ambitions. The committee's tarnished image and reputation has been cited as the primary reason for its falling membership.
The Union of the Indonesian Catholic Students (PMKRI), a major organization affiliated with KNPI, declared yesterday that it was pulling out of the congress.
PMKRI presidium chairman Antonius Doni said the decision was made two years ago when the group agreed to become independent of KNPI.
"This will free PMKRI to express its moral and intellectual beliefs about living together as a society, a nation and a country," Antonius said.
Antonius urged KNPI to retain its independence, saying that it