A lot of people show high enthusiasm about Public Lecture Dr. Zakir Naik. The number of people registering for the public lecture is over the daily quota. “From day one to four, the committee receive 500-700 people in 25 minutes,” stated Secretariat Coordinator of the public lecture Ir. Tony K. in an interview on Friday (24/3).

He added that, noticing the circumstance, the committee immediately closed the registration before 3 p.m. “Since the quota is more than what has been decided, a number of prospective participants cannot register. However, the online registration of the public lecture is by March 30, 2017,” told Tony.

Tony also informed that the committee would review and select all of the prospective participants who have registered based on data they input such as registration form, document completeness and appropriateness, and motivation. The motivation is necessary to know why the participants are interested in attending the public lecture. The strong motivation and obvious objective will be the committee’s main consideration. “If the motivation is only to see and listen to Dr. Zakir Naik, it is not quite convincing the committee. Besides, we also found that a participant did not upload an identity card as filled on the form. Indeed, a participant uploaded a family photograph,” Tony explained. The committee also takes into account the number of genders, origin, and backgrounds.

Additionally, Tony reminds public that the public lecture Dr. Zakir Naik is different from Islamic speeches which are commonly conducted in Indonesia, and attended outdoors and by thousands of people. In fact, the public lecture is delivered in English. “The public lecture Dr. Zakir Naik at Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY) is an academic event held indoors, at Sportorium of UMY, and the quota is limited. Sportorium of UMY possesses a capacity of 6,000 people with the consideration of the comfort and security,” maintained Tony.