Universitas Gadjah Mada held a ceremony to celebrate the 72nd Indonesia’s Independence Day on Thursday (17/8) at the Balairung yard UGM. The ceremony was directly led by UGM Rector, Prof. Ir. Panut Mulyono, M.Eng., D.Eng. and it was attended by the leaders of the university and faculties, lecturers, non-teaching staff, as well as the students.
This year, UGM Rector read the speech from the Governor of Yogyakarta, Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono X, regarding the importance of building spirit of togetherness. It has to be built not only during the Independence Day but also implemented in the heart of each of Indonesian people.
“The founding fathers of Indonesia had prepared a constitution, namely UUD 1945, that contains the national principle which is Pancasila, based on the spirit of Indonesian diversity,” said Sultan.
Corresponding to the main theme of the 2017 Independence Day celebration which was Indonesia Works Together, Sultan said the philosophy of the theme is mutual cooperation which is a basic principle of Indonesian people that has to be strengthened in order to reach a better civilization.
According to Sultan, it is not easy to work together. However, by reflecting on the Indonesian history, this is a must for the society to rebuild their trust that this nation is still promising to give a better hope for the next generation.
“Working together is a solution towards a prosperous and independent Indonesia that is impossible to be built by anger, but it has to be done with hard work and smart work. Therefore, let us build the national unity by working together,” he added.