Talking about cultural diversity may be a petty concept to some people. Those think that diversity is not compatible for their values. My personal judgement about people who hate other people according to the differences is clear, i would like to consider them as a factor of disintegration. I really don't understand why people can harm other people just because the physical appearance, ideology, and even prejudice. The lack of understanding and courtesy can bring discouragement of national stability. I think it has been declared by some scholars, yet the progress to respect others still hits the wall.
Then, what is the solution? Indonesia is well known with its cultural diversity, many people from different cultural backgrounds come to define Indonesia as a nation. It's not formed by one major ethnic group. The rise and fall of Indonesia is determined by its complexities. It involves cultural assimilation and cultural blend as ethnic experiences. To preserve the national stability, Indonesians must embrace a system which can accomodate the differences among ethnic groups. We must abandon personal prejudices to other ethnic groups. We need to realize that we are growing among cultural diversities, regardless our religions,cultural customs, or personal beliefs. If we trace back our history, we can't neglect the role of our ancestors, Indonesia isn't built by homogenous culture. I would like to call my beloved country, Indonesia, as a place where people can put their diverities peacefully without being threated by a dominant group. Being an Indonesian can't be defined by just one major perspective. We have to challenge the taken for granted definition, the unjust condition can only be clarified through multiculturalism.
Multiculturalism itself is a system of belief and behaviors that recognizes and respects the presence of all diverse groups in an organization /society , acknowledges and values their social -cultural differences and encourage and enables their continued contributio within an inclusive cultural context which empowers all within the organization o society. Multiculturalism emphasizes seven actions which are recognition ( the understanding of diversity), respect, acknowledging, valuing, encourage and enable, celebrate. The multculturalism magnifies us to look upon the others as partners not as foes. Inclusively, we don't patronize other cultures, where none /nothing is left behind. There is no agent which is deemed as a superior and the other is an inferior. Therefore, we must expel any conducts that can provide tendency to attack other groups merely based on negative prejudices, due to socioeconomic, cultural, political, biological. The prejudices are basically produced by unreasonable fear.
To redefine Indonesia, i would choose gado-gado ( an Indonesian food) as a good metaphor. In the multiculturalism context, diversity is treated as a foundation that can bond a unity. We, Indonesians are a heterogeneous society which includes our uniqueness, we maintain our personal identities. Similar to gado-gado, it is made from different ingredients (vegetables, peanut sauce, tofu,etc), but the ingredients keep their flavors to create new sensation without terminating any flavor. Certainly, when we eat gado-gado we can still taste lettuces and tomattoes but it comes in one package. The metaphor can define Indonesia, so the cultural diversity isn't the obstacle to move forward even it's a highly important factor to its development. That's how multiculturalism redefines Indonesia....
(Singapore, 29 Oct,2011___sembari nonton Animal Planet...)
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