Indonesia has complex plural society and is well-known for its diversity such as tribes, cultures, and faiths. The differences are bit a burden, but become a strong foundation as the Indonesia’s motto Bhinneka Tunggal Ika. To reinforce the principle and promote the harmony of Indonesia abroad and in Indonesia, Office of the Presidential Working unit for Interfaith and Civilization Dialogue and Cooperation (DKAP) made a video of interfaith concord in Indonesia.
An Indonesian Hollywood director Livi Zheng led the video-making process at Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY) on Wednesday (23/8). UMY was on the video as a symbol of a modern Islamic educational institution of Indonesia. “The video displays peaceful interaction of the plural community. We are going to visit nodes from Aceh to Papua, and what we would like to show is not only interfaith dialogue but also interfaith cooperation. We see that UMY possesses vigor of diversity contexts which we bring on the video,” declared Rifqi Muna, Ph.D., a presidential assistant for the DKAP.
Rifqi stated that interfaith practices in Indonesia become examples to foster and build social interaction among the plural community. “Many international parties notice Indonesia as the best practices of diverse interaction. Comparing to other countries, integration among the plural community in Indonesia is much more peaceful. Indeed, a majority of Indonesian people are Muslims but they remain upholding democracy. Nevertheless, we cannot deny that friction in the community, particularly in interfaith dialogue, occurs, and we together undertake various efforts to cope with the conflict. This is our achievement in diversity interaction in Indonesia. Thus, maintaining the circumstance is essential,” emphasized Rifqi.
Additionally, the production team is going to shoot the video in a number of cultural and religious sites in Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta. “We recorded videos in Prambanan, Ratu Boko, and Borobudur. We are going to shoot other videos in Sultan Palace and an Islamic boarding school of Pabelan in Muntilan,” informed Rifqi.
