Unity amid diversity

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