As many as 9,152 new students of Universitas Gadjah Mada formed a configuration that reads as Bersatu Nusantara, Indonesia Jaya (United Nusantara, Glorious Indonesia) and red-and-white flag on Saturday (11/8) in the courtyard of Grha Sabha Pramana. This is part of the closing ceremony of new student induction event that started on 6 August.
The configuration is aimed at rejuvenating the spirit for unity that is inspired by Prime Minister Gadjah Mada of the Majapahit kingdom who had united the whole areas of Nusantara archipelago in the 14th century.
Public Works and Settlement Minister, Basuki Hadimoeljono, in his remarks congratulated the new students who had been accepted at Universitas Gadjah Mada. In his opinion, it was not easy for them to get accepted as they had to compete with hundred other students. “You ought to be thankful because of the 172 thousand applicants, not over five percent have been admitted,” said the Minister.
According to Minister Basuki, the students should not waste the opportunity to get education and knowledge on a broader spectrum. “There are two things that you will earn here, science and knowledge, these are the capital for future competition,” he said.
He also asked the new students to practice honesty and sustain integrity and professionalism. ”Without integrity, you will have no courage and will always avoid conflict of interests in decision making. Therefore, you have to be strong and courageous to be able to do the task given to you,” he said.
Besides intelligence and academic performance, he said, students had to be a team work, because nobody can complete a job by themselves but with others. “Your presence should benefit the team, not posing a threat instead,” he said.
Rector of UGM, Prof. Ir. Panut Mulyono, M.Eng., Ph.D., in his remarks asked the new students to be better and successful. He asked them during their course of study to avoid radicalism and instead bring forward the values and attitudes that are in line with the state ideology.
“Say no to radicalism, but yes to Pancasila, NKRI and UUD 1945, and be a champion,” he said.
The closing ceremony was also enlivened with poetry reading and speeches by UGM outstanding students in 2018, Anggelo A. Wijaya from Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, and Luthfiana P. from Vocational School. There was also music performance by Gama Band and The Dean group.