United we'll stand, Separated we'll fall

The Indonesian national motto of "Unity in Diversity" points to one of the greatest attractions of Indonesia.

There are around 300 ethnic groups, a result of Indonesia's unique geographical make-up consisting of more than 17,000 islands, and history.

Many Indonesians see themselves first by their ethnic, religion and cultural group, and secondly as Indonesians.

The glue that binds the people together is the usage of the Indonesian language and adoption of Pancasila as national philosophy which stressed the doctrine of Religious pluralism, Humanism, Unity, Democracy and Social Justice.

Considering the above mentioned facts, I felt that Indonesia could only exist as a country if its people keep on believing on what have been pledged by our founding fathers on 28 October 1928, as follow :
-  We are one Nation : Indonesia
-  We have one Language : Indonesia
-  We have one Country : Indonesia

Youth's Pledge Day

On 28 October 1928, young people from various parts of the Dutch Colony of East India held the first Congress of Youth at the capital city of Batavia.

The participants of the congress have pledged as follows :
1)  We have one country   =  a country called Indonesia
2)  We have one nation     =  an Indonesian Nation
3)  We have one language =  an Indonesian Language

This pledge has unified the people in the said Dutch Colony and inspired them to declare the independence of the Republic of Indonesia on 17 August 1945.

I sincerely hope that every citizens of Indonesia, especially those in the central and provincial governments and parliaments would always remember the Youth's Pledge.

Images : Courtesy of Jimmy Zakaria (below) and Tandainama (above).