Unity amid diversity

The greater and the more diverse a nation, the more an effective bond is needed to keep it unified. For this reason we can understand why President Soeharto, in front of some 120,000 participants in a grand gathering organized by the Majelis Taklim at the Istora Stadium at Senayan on Saturday once again reminded the nation of the necessity to maintain national unity and cohesion.

There is no need for us to ask ourselves who the President's reminder was addressed to. We believe that all parties are subjects in our efforts to maintain our nation's unity and cohesion. All parties involved would lose if we were to perceive our differences from the wrong angle.

We are convinced that all of us are agreed that our diversity constitutes no threat, but rather a great potential to make our national life more dynamic. Over the past 50 years of independence, the Indonesian nation has passed various tests of capability to live in a climate of diversity.

We do not want all this to be merely rhetorics. We need to speak one common language and realize that all the parties involved as well as Indonesians of all walks of life must make the nation's unity and cohesion the first step towards achieving our development goals. Differences of opinion are natural and must be accepted with an open mind, rather than be regarded a problem.

-- Media Indonesia, Jakarta