Obama promotes tolerance in his first Asian speech after retirement

By APD Writer Maverick

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JAKARTA, July 1 (APD) –** The United States then-president Barrack Obama called on people to exercise more tolerance, respect differences so as to avoid war, faltering of order among the society that may lead to world end.

Speaking in his first public speech in Asia after his retirement early this year, Obama said that the world can take Indonesia as a tolerance role model with the nation’s Bhinnneka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity) principle, making people from different backgrounds respect to each other.

“I saw Borobudur Temple, world’s largest Buddhist temple, and large Hindu temple of Prambanan, are well-preserved in Muslim-majority country Indonesia. I also see churches and mosques stand side by side here. These are Indonesia’s spirit of tolerance,” Obama said in his speech delivered in Indonesian Diaspora Congress event here on Saturday.

“This is the true and important character of Indonesia that can be adopted by other countries,” Obama pointed out.

Exercising more tolerance in every part of the world is essential at present amidst the growing discriminative and anti-tolerance sentiments which largely incited by rapid development of internet and telecommunication technology.

“Instant information that spread false news has made people anxious, prompted them to seek security for themselves in wrong places,” Obama said, adding that it all had eventually created ‘false nationalism’, tends to discriminate people who are ‘different from them’.

In his speech session, Obama called on youths in Indonesia to continue preserving the noble deeds among the society in respecting differences so as to avoid from possible disintegration due to the ‘false nationalism’.

“We already saw increasing rejection against minority groups, discrimination on ethnicity and religion basis,” Obama warned, citing to the recent political process to elect Jakarta governor which heavily exploited differences among the society for certain political motives, pitted apart people from different backgrounds.

Obama was in Indonesia for a vacation since Friday last week. With his family, Obama visited Bali, Yogyakarta, observed several cultural sites, including Borobudur and Prambanan temples.

Obama has a strong emotional bond with Indonesia as went to elementary school in Jakarta when he stayed with his mother and his Indonesian stepfather from 1967 to 1971.

Indonesia, the world’s largest archipelago nation and has the world’s largest Muslim population as well, officially enlists six different religions comprised of Islam, Christianity, Catholic, Buddha, Hindu and Confucius, for its people in its constitution.

Indonesia has 300 different ethnic groups who are living in more than 17,000 islands across its territory which spans between Asia and Australia continents, Indian and Pacific Oceans.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)