Author: Humairah Nur
In commemoration of Youth Pledge Day 2021, Universitas Indonesia held a public discussion entitled “The Spirit of Building the Nation in the Harmony of Indonesian Diversity” on Thursday (28/10). The discussion was broadcast live via Zoom and Universitas Indonesia’s YouTube channel. In the second session, UI invited four key speakers, including Aloysius Selwas Taborat, a 2010 alumnus of the Faculty of Law, Universitas Indonesia (FHUI), who is now a diplomat at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia. Selwas opened his presentation by telling about his previous desire to travel the world while introducing his country to the outside world. His meeting with Dr. Hassan Wirayuda (the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia 2001-2009) in public lectures while studying at UI led him to the world of diplomacy.
As a man who grew up in Maluku, he was not discouraged by his background. He turned challenges into motivation to pursue this profession. “We only live once. I want to give my best according to my calling in life, which is through diplomacy and foreign policy,” he said. In carrying out his profession as a diplomat, Selwas always prioritizes the interests of the nation and state. One of them was during the 71st UN General Assembly session in September 2016, when Indonesia was accused of violating human rights (HAM) against its own citizens in West Papua. At that time he firmly rejected the accusations against Indonesia and said that all the actions that Indonesia took had a clear basis and purpose, not a haphazard action.
Ini adalah salah satu contoh semangat kepemudaan yang ia laksanakan dalam konteks profesinya sebagai diplomat. Selwas kemudian mengajak para pemuda untuk turut berkontribusi dalam pembangunan Indonesia. Hal ini tentunya berlaku bagi siapapun dari segala latar belakang dan identitas. Menurutnya, silahkan berkontribusi selama hal tersebut bertujuan baik untuk Indonesia. Terlebih, tahun ini, Indonesia akan mengalami bonus demografi dengan 70% dari populasi merupakan angkatan kerja. Penting bagi para pemuda, termasuk mahasiswa untuk memanfaatkan sebaik mungkin peluang tahun 2021 sebagai tahun ekonomi kreatif. Saat ini, pemuda-pemudi Indonesia mengemban potensi yang besar untuk membangun Negeri.
The youth are expected to be able to develop innovation and creativity and always apply the principle of mutual cooperation. In the process of developing creativity and innovation, of course, many challenges and obstacles will be encountered. One of the challenges that has occurred is the Covid 19 pandemic. Selwas then talked about the role of Indonesian diplomats who continously try to raise Indonesia’s position in the eyes of the world. Diplomats continue to encourage Indonesia to play an active role and carry out its peacekeeping function even during a pandemic. In 2020, Indonesia and six other countries were able to encourage 193 member countries of the United Nations (UN) to issue a statement of international solidarity regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.
This insistence was accepted by all members. Reflecting on this story, young people must always have a high fighting spirit to face challenges and obstacles as diplomats continue to work on cultivating creativity and innovation so that development continues. The pandemic is not the only challenge, the life of the diverse Indonesian people is also included in it. For Selwas, the life of the nation and state is not always peaceful. Diversity is still at the heart of several conflicts in Indonesia and deep-rooted challenges. However, we cannot fully blame our diversity in the context of challenges.
We can make use of the challenges to strengthen our identity as the Indonesian nation. “I am very confident that the progress of youth with many challenges will be overcome, considering that we as a nation have historically experienced various strengthening processes. We as youths, we have to work together,” said Selwas. On this occasion, UI invited Indonesian youth to actively continue to ]innovate and be creative in order to build a sustainable Indonesia. By applying the value of gotong-royong (mutual help), we will undoubtedly be able to overcome challenges, especially global challenges. This is in line with the sub-theme of the discussion, namely “The Gotong Royong of Youth for the Rise of Indonesia”.
