Indonesia’s 10th and 12th Vice President, Dr. Muhammad Jusuf Kalla, encouraged the younger generation to advance the nation through positive cultural diplomacy, such as hard work, intelligence, courage, and good manners, to drive change, progress, and equitable prosperity.
“In this era of globalization, young people need to experience cultural exchanges by exploring work opportunities in other countries, as it will influence their way of thinking and behaving,” Dr. Kalla said during a public lecture on ‘Cultural Diplomacy and Peace’ held on Monday, Feb. 24, 2025, at the Soegondo Auditorium, UGM’s Faculty of Cultural Sciences (FIB UGM).
JK, as he is commonly known, explained that cultural attachment influences individual perspectives. Those who have never encountered other cultures tend to believe their own is superior and are unaware of the broader world.
He noted that Indonesia lags behind Japan and China due to the strong work ethic in those countries, which Indonesia has yet to adopt. He also commented on the trending discussion of the hashtag #kaburajadulu on social media, which caught his attention. According to him, this tagline has a positive meaning.
“If we stay only in Indonesia, we won’t realize how the world is changing,” he said.
Dr. Kalla emphasized that Indonesian youth should take inspiration from Indian workers who enhance their capacities by learning the American work culture and applying it to develop their own country. Today, many Indians lead major technology companies in America, such as Twitter (X), Microsoft, and Meta.
He believes that by adopting positive values from other cultures, Indonesia’s youth can accelerate development and boost their global competitiveness.
In October 2024, Dr. Kalla received the Peace Mujahid Award from the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI). He also stressed the importance of cultural diplomacy as an effective tool for fostering peace, drawing from his role in resolving the Afghanistan conflict.
Understanding and appreciating other cultures is key to creating harmony and preventing conflicts between nations.
He urged that cultural diplomacy plays a crucial role in conflict resolution, facilitating constructive dialogue, reducing tensions, and building trust among conflicting parties.
By emphasizing dialogue, the role of religious leaders, and an inclusive approach, Dr. Kalla continues to contribute to global peace efforts, in line with Indonesia’s constitutional mandate to help create a world order based on independence, lasting peace, and social justice.
UGM’s Vice Rector for Education and Teaching, Professor Wening Udasmoro, shared Dr. Kalla’s success in resolving the Ambon and Poso conflicts, which became a reference for her writings in several articles. She remarked that peacebuilding remains important in studying social humanities across many global conflicts.
“We hope Indonesia remains peaceful, but sometimes we overlook the social humanities, as the focus now is on strengthening digital technology sectors. In fact, the humanities play a vital role because peace, welfare, and happiness are all core aspects of social humanities studies,” Professor Udasmoro explained.
In his opening remarks, Professor Setiadi, the Dean of FIB UGM, reflected on the institution’s 79-year journey in serving the nation.
He outlined that FIB has undertaken various tri-dharma activities, which have significantly contributed to national progress and embody UGM’s tagline of “globally rooted, locally respected.”
The INCULS (Indonesian Language and Culture Learning Service) program, which teaches Indonesian to foreign speakers, is one of its flagship initiatives to promote Indonesia globally.
“We have reached 27 countries, and in just the first two months of this year, 238 foreign students are learning the Indonesian language at FIB. We expect this number to continue growing, possibly doubling or tripling from the previous year,” Dean Setiadi stated.
He also highlighted achievements in various academic programs, such as anthropology, which ranks 51-100 globally; archaeology and modern languages, which rank 151-200; and history, which ranks 201-230 worldwide.
Although rankings are not FIB UGM’s ultimate goal, they reflect recognition from international colleagues and institutions, making these achievements worthy of celebration.
He also shared the faculty’s future aspirations, which include expanding language studies beyond teaching and linguistic research and incorporating interdisciplinary studies.
“Neurolinguistics must be here. Our linguistics colleagues should develop cross-disciplinary research through collaboration with the Faculty of Science or the Faculty of Medicine,” he added.
Author: Triya Andriyani
Post-editor: Lintang
Photographer: Firsto