UNAIR NEWS – The Governor of East Java Region, Dra. Hj. Khofifah Indar Parawansa, M.Si., delivered a guest lecture on “Kelas Inspiratif Kegiatan Modul Nusantara” (tr: Inspiring Session on Programmes of Modul Nusantara) in Gedung Grahadi, on Saturday (8/1/2022). The seminar was attended by students from all over the region, discussing “Government Support in Promoting Education on Diversity and Pluralism on the Basis of Local Culture”.
The inspiring session was one of four main programmes for students arriving from islands other than Java, who were enrolled as participants for the Domestic Student Exchange Programme (Program Pertukaran Mahasiswa Dalam Negeri/PMM-DN). Under the scrutiny of 31 in-person attendees and 389 students whose online presence should not be left out, Khofifah revealed various cultural problems, which extended to the welfare issues.
Commencing her lecture, Khofifah disseminated her book to the in-person attendees, a reading material to be discussed, which mainly talked about her journey in building the nation.
The Governor of East Java highlighted, “One of the many journeys I have travelled through entails me engaging with citizens of Papua, NTT, and many other regions bordered by Timor Leste. I learnt how they had trouble accessing information that they needed in order to obtain social protection services, due to the lack of KTP possession on their part.’’
She also revealed the chain reaction behind the issue, the lack of KTP possession had stemmed from the lack of Family Card possession which had occurred due to their spouse’s inability to provide a dowry, thus causing difficulties in issuing proper civil registry documents required. Later, this issue will affect the children as well since it would be improbable to issue the child’s birth certificate without a legitimate family card that can certify the parents’ union legally.
“Until one day I was given the opportunity to held talks with the local principals in the region. I took the chance to enlighten them regarding the dowry issue, that a huge amount of cash or precious treasure needs not to be standard. That a dowry can be as tiny as a small-sized iron box. The revelation was a success; I was applauded for having validated their problems and actually came up with a viable solution.”
It was not an easy road, but the Governor was eventually able to legitimise Bhineka Tunggal Ika’s wedding reception.
It was a small issue indeed, which had led to a complex structural poverty, since most of the families did not have social protection services. About 85% of the children within one district were not registered legally, thus did not possess a birth certificate, which in turn rendered them ineligible for social protection
For as long as 10 months, Khofifah assisted the civilians in obtaining their legal marriage certificates just so that families could obtain proper social protection services. Khofifah refused to dwell on the situation where local people failed to access facilities supported by the government just because they were obstructed by administrative issues. Additionally, she believed that the development approach could not be actualised symmetrically.
“Jakarta citizens will never be able to define the necessities of people from NTT, Papua, Northern Sumatra, using the approach that can only be applicable to social situations in Jakarta. Different infrastructure will pose different risks, including its differing human resources availability and ecosystem.’’
Throughout the lecture, she did not cease to remind the participants to stay united despite diversity (kebhinekaan).
Concluding the session, Kkhofifah emphasised, “We have high hopes that students who have attended the session will grow to become the epicentre of bhineka tunggal ika (unity in diversity), and come back prosperous.’’
Writer: Viradyah Lulut
Editor: Nuri Hermawan
