UNAIR NEWS – East Java Governor Dra. Hj. Khofifah Indar Parawansa, M.Si., delivered her speech in the Inspirational Class for Nusantara Module Activities at the Grahadi Building on Saturday, January 8, 2022. Attended by students from various regions in Indonesia, the class is entitled “Local Government Support for Realizing Educational Development in Diversity and Pluralism Based on Local Culture.”
The inspirational class is one of the four main types of activities for students from outside Java who join the Independent Domestic Student Exchange (PMM-DN) program. In front of 31 students who attended offline and 389 students online, Khofifah revealed cultural issues to welfare.
Before her presentation, Khofifah distributed books to the students. The book tells us a portrait of her journey and her work for the nation’s movement.
“The stories cover the journeys that I went through, such as when I greeted people in Papua, NTT, and the border area of Indonesia and Timor Leste. I was informed that they could not access various social protection programs even though they need them because they do not have national identity cards,” said the governor of East Java as well as the Head of IKA UNAIR.
She also explained that the problem of not having a national identity card results from not having a family register. She continued that they do not have a family register because the groom cannot pay the dowry to the bride. Therefore, the filing becomes complicated, and their child cannot get a birth certificate.
“Until one night, I was given the opportunity to meet the leader there. I said that not everyone could pay for the dowry. Therefore, the Messenger of Allah allows us to pay in the form of a small iron box, at least symbolically,” she said. “Unexpectedly, they applauded. They had longed to be heard by their leader,” she continued.
Through a long process, Governor Khofifah’s opinion was agreed upon. Thus, a unity-in-diversity wedding reception emerged.
Furthermore, due to structural poverty, 85% of the children do not have a birth certificate in one district. Khofifah helped 2500 couples for ten months to pay for the marriage registry.
She does not want the people there to be unable to access the health, education, and other programs facilitated by the government just because of administrative problems that are closely related to culture. According to her, synergy is necessary because problems cannot solve by themselves, especially if there is a monopoly for interpretation. Khofifah also added that the development approach cannot be done symmetrically.
“People of Jakarta cannot interpret the needs of the people of NTT, Papua, or North Sumatra only from the points of view of Jakarta. That’s not possible because of different infrastructures, different human resources, and different ecosystems,” said the former Indonesian Minister of Social Affairs.
Through this opportunity, Khofifah hoped that she could continue to strengthen the unity in diversity of Indonesia.
“Hopefully, all students here can be the epicenter of unity in diversity. Of course, you should contribute more to welfare,” she concluded.
Author: Viradyah Lulut
Editor: Nuri Hermawan
