Youth is a hope for a country and without them a county does not possess a generation to embody goals of the country. In the commemoration ceremony of the 89th Youth Pledge anniversary on Saturday (28/10) in a courtyard of A.R. Fachruddin A of Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY), Rector of UMY Dr. Ir. Gunawan Budiyanto, M.P. stated that many students prefer learning from and trusting to social media which often post information than studying history.
“They (youth, red.) have been forgetting what heroes did. Most of them are now learning from hoax news. We are now in a globalization era that boundaries among countries has become invisible so that we will confronting huge social changes,” declared Gunawan.
Rector of UMY also told that the celebration of the Youth Pledge Day can be a self-reflection of how youth loves Indonesia. “It is essential to understand the meaning of loving this nation. Indeed, evidence of loving this country is not by shouting ‘love Indonesia’ on a megaphone. Preserving this nation is not just through a talk,” he asserted.
Besides, Gunawan told that due to euphoria of the Reform in 1998 many universities in Jogja omitted Student Regiment (Menwa) and D4 upgrading. However, UMY became one of the universities which maintained the Menwa. “Even though many universities scoffed at UMY, we will remain preserving the Menwa,” he said.
Additionally, the ceremony was attended by students associated in Student Activity Units, Student Executive and Legislative Board, and leadership of UMY. Dr. Gunawan expected that the young generation always appreciated what heroes did for this national. He advised students not to overlook history or the next generation will not recognize history of their country at all.
