SURABAYA (December 4th 2019) - Indonesian Ministry of Social Affairs, Juliari P. Batubara opened the "2019 National Wisdom National Workshop" and "National Reconciliation of Non-Cash Social Assistance Distribution of Hope Family Program (PKH) which took place in Surabaya, Wednesday (12/4) ) morning. On the occasion, the Minister of Social Affairs emphasized that the values ​​of local wisdom are cultures that must be maintained, respected and valued.

Local wisdom (riflok) as part of local customs originating from diverse ethnic groups reflects that Indonesia is a multi-ethnic, religious, racial and group state. Diversity is a reality of the Indonesian people that cannot be denied.

According to Social Minister who is familiarly called Ari, the values ​​of local wisdom are not just be spoken but also it must be practiced in daily life. "In my example there are Batak and Javanese descendents, since I was born I have been called an 'official' of the Javanese-Batak descent and I married a woman of another ethnic ancestry," Ari said.

Actualization and implementation of real values ​​of riflok in the midst of community life is very important considering that riflok is able to unite the diversity of cultures, traditions and customs in the bond of togetherness that respects and respects each other.

Actualization of riflok in daily life is a reflection of the ideology of Pancasila. Pancasila is the best way to strengthen the national identity from interference and threats from foreign ideologies. This is in accordance with the direction of the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Jokowi Widodo.

"The president always reminds us that our ideology is firm in all our policies and behavior. Ideology is the nation unifying, so that this nation does not become a loser, "said the Minister of Social Affairs.

Joko Widodo's government is a government that upholds diversity and continues to encourage riflok values ​​to be preserved and bequeathed to our children and grandchildren. This effort is made to print our children into a superior generation.

The government cannot do it alone without community support. Therefore, in his direction, the Minister of Social Affairs invites religious leaders, community leaders, traditional leaders, youth leaders, and women leaders to strengthen unity and unity in their respective regions.

"If there is anything suspicious, immediately look for the source. There are unusual movements, they are immediately discussed so that potential conflict areas can be prevented," Ari said.

In the same place, Director General of Social Protection and Security, Harry Hikmat said that in addition to internalizing Pancasila values ​​in daily life, the role of the media must also be utilized because the influence of social media is currently very large in people's lives, especially in the younger generation.

Along with the cultural shift towards modernization, more and more challenges to the diversity of diversity faced by this nation, especially the younger generation. "Our young generation number 129 million, but what we have to pass on from this country to them is now experiencing a little degradation," said Minister of Social Affairs Ari.

The influence of technology and information is currently very massive. Social media and messaging applications freely enter and influence our young generation. Ari said that at this time, people are very easily influenced by news that is not necessarily the truth. "We are entering the Post-Truth era," said the Minister.

Post-Truth is a symptom that is present with hoaks, obscuring the public from objective facts. Public opinion can be formed through hoaks so that young people are now easily influenced by information on social media that seems right, but not. Therefore, the Minister of Social Affairs strongly urges caution for the development of the current young generation. "Do you want to go better, or just like this, or even retreat?" asked Ari.

If you want towards a better Indonesia going forward, the Minister of Social Affairs calls for us to start from ourselves, "Let's start from ourselves. I am Indonesian with Javanese, Batak, Bugis, Asmat, Ambonese, Sundanese, but the people are Indonesian, not I am Batak, period. I am a Javanese Indonesian."

There is no country like Indonesia, a country that is rich in diverse ethnic groups, customs so that it is important and our duty to preserve culture and maintain national unity.

Riflok workshop activities which are still ongoing, according to the Minister of Social Affairs, are very important in the midst of state life that continues to be challenged. In some regions, there have been a lot of social conflicts lately which could have been avoided if respect and acceptance of differences were prioritized.

Thousands of years ago, even today, the Indonesian people have lived hand in hand. The warriors, the ancestors have fought to defend the Indonesian state. "Therefore, there is no other word than to maintain peace and unity of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI) through the actualization of the values ​​of local wisdom as a mirror of the ideology of Pancasila," said Minister of Social Affairs Ari.