The pouring afternoon rain on January 10th, 2011 did not deter the enthusiasm of people who attended the Cultural Talk Show. The theme of this talk show was Live through New Year of 2012 in Diversity. This even took place in Meeting Ballroom of Grand Wahid Hotel on Jendral Sudirman Street No 2, Salatiga. Wijaya Kusuma Acupuncture and Herbal Clinic Salatiga organized this event in collaboration with Anand Krishna Center Yogyakarta –Solo-Semarang.
The talk show began at 07:20 P.M. Anand Krishna and J.X. Barreto Nunes, the Commandant of District military command 0714 Salatiga were greeted with jasmine- flowers leis and entered the meeting room. Two dancers performed the rendition of Gambyong Parianon dance to welcome them in the style of Middle Javanese tradition. The mayor of Salatiga,and the Expert Staff of the Mayor, Dra. Diah Puryati, MSi also attended this event.
Afterwards the attendees could see the screening of Anand Ashram Foundation’s profile, which tells about the history and the achievements obtained by Anand Ashram.
Subsequently the chairman or the committee, SS Boedyo Pranoto, welcomed the guests. He stated that the spirit of Appearing as Many, Essentially One and Pancasila are our cultural heritage since Majapahit era. Mr. Pranoto also presented a souvenir: a stunning Shri Krishna shadow puppet.
The Chairman of Anand Ashram Foundation, Wayan Sayoga, took his turn to give a speech. He said we have to put the values of Pancasila into practice in our lives now. Sayoga also reminded us mot to get trapped in fanaticism. He said we have to respect everybody’s rights to worship God in his or her own respective ways. He also quoted Bung Karno, all the ways to worship God are true.
Dra. Diah Purwati, the Expert Staff of the Mayor, then read out the speech text of the Salatiga’s Mayor. She reviewed that religions have juxtaposing values which brought all human beings together because we live on one earth and under the same sky.
Finally Anand Krishna took his turn to express his thoughts. He said we began to feel the effect of globalization, in 2010 and at the latest 2015. All investments will be open to ASEAN countries, all investors will be treated like local investors. We will have to compete with our fellows of Malay ethnic group. All ASEAN investors will be allowed to borrow money from our local banks.
We have to be careful because up until now we only export house maids. The number of foreign companies in Indonesia exceeds the number of Indonesian companies abroad.
Anand Krishna said we have to do self-inventory. What do we have in order to compete with our fellows of Malay ethnic group? Our history tells us that we are the richest country in both our biodiversity and our diversities of cultures.
Pluralism does not mean we glorify our past. Pluralism means we can work with anybody. It is the key to the prominence of Sriwijaya and Majapahit.
Anand Krishna also responded to a question from somebody by asserting the importance of the English language. We cannot negotiate with other nations without it. Whatever our abilities, if we cannot communicate, it is difficult to apply our knowledge.
At the end of the talk show J.X. Barreto Nunes, the the Commandant of District military command 0714 Salatiga, asked about how to address the circumstances in Indonesia nowadays and the steps we have to take.
Anand Krishna said Indonesia is a unique country; there is no reference to Indonesia in the world. There are 17 thousands islands, there is no such example. We have elections for the head of a region every several days approximately. It is a waste of fund and vulnerable on social level. We have to say federalization is not suitable for us.
This event was very jolly and the attendees were full of enthusiasm.
Thank you Salatiga, it was incredible. Hope we will meet again in the future.
Reporter: Adrian Kristanto, Translator: Sylvia Antaresa
