Chief Justice Anwar Usman giving a keynote speech at a national seminar by the Law Faculty of the Sebelas Maret University of Surakarta, Saturday (3/12/2022). Photo by Humas MK/Ifa.

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Saturday, March 12, 2022 | 17:42 WIB

JAKARTA, Public Relations—Chief Justice Anwar Usman delivered a keynote speech at a seminar national on “Building Culture of Constitution and Integrity Among Millennials” on Saturday, March 12, 2022 at the hall of the Building No. 3 of the Law Faculty of the Sebelas Maret University (FH UNS), Surakarta, Central Java. The event was part of the 46th anniversary of the university.

Before Constitutional Justices Enny Nurbaningsih and Arief Hidayat, Justice Anwar said that a nation can be great and become a superpower depending on its journey.

“If each era and phase of the nation’s journey keeps continuing for the better, where innovations are made, greatness is near. On the contrary, if the continuity cannot be maintained, the nation or country will not progress and might even turn to ruins,” the chief justice said virtually.

He added that regeneration was absolutely necessary to maintain the continuity, one of which by building the culture of constitution and integrity among millennials, who would continue guarding the nation and state’s journey.

Justice Anwar also said that, as a pluralistic and great nation, we should be thankful for the many experiences along our journey. The youth of the past, he said, had played a crucial role in bringing our nation toward independence and democracy.

Millennials’ Important Role

Justice Anwar said the millennials have a great role in maintaining the Constitution to that it stays alive and is reflected in the state administration and the everyday lives of its citizens. He stressed that the high number of millennials means they have a great influence on the nation and state. Therefore, they must commit to constitutional ideas to continue the life of the nation and state.

“Because in the future, the millennials will hold the power for the nation and state. By thinking and behaving constitutionally, the dream of an advanced and prosperous country would, [God allows], be realized,” he said.

The great role of the youth in the nation’s history marks the Indonesian youth’s dedication to the state. The high number of millennials, he believed, would help in the regeneration of the current officials.

“This regeneration process is important for preparing the [young] generation or millennials who are aware of the Constitution, resilient, who have achievements and integrity, to continue the leadership of the country,” he stressed.

Justice Anwar also explained that in the post-truth era and with the rapid flow of information on various media, be it print, electronic, and social, misleading information is everywhere. It can mislead the public and even result in social fragments and conflicts of interest, which would negatively impact millennials, who should receive accurate information. The limited role models in various fields could become a social time bomb.

He then advised all the university’s students, who are agents of change, to objectively process and cross-check any information to validate it.

“Also, do not spread that information easily through social media, despite it having been verified, because if it is not beneficial, it could even lead to allegations and social fragments,” he stressed.

Building Constitution Awareness

Meanwhile, Constitutional Justice Enny Nurbaningsih said that the culture of the Constitution is easy to say, but hard to do optimally. He believed Indonesia should be thankful for its extraordinary gift as a plural nation. “If we think about it, the Indonesian population is high, and we recognize many religions, and the Constitutional Court has [affirmed the recognition of] faiths,” she said.

She believed Indonesia is facing the challenge of the 5.0 era. Indonesia must manage its mindset to realize the national goals enshrined in the Preamble of the 1945 Constitution. The millennials, she said, need guidelines, that is, Pancasila, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, and the 1945 Constitution.

“So, these guidelines drive all generations and there would not be any issue in the future as they have lived the guidelines left behind by the founding fathers,” she stressed.

Justice Enny also said, theoretically, the Constitution has extraordinary content. “If we look at the perspective of our Constitution, both in a large and small meaning, it contains extraordinary fundamental documents in determining the movements of the nation and state, including the society,” she emphasized.

Meanwhile, Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat said that Indonesia has extraordinary potentials as well as history to become a great country. “This country was a great nation rich in natural and human resources as well as social and cultural values,” he said before UNS Rector Jamal Wiwoho.

Justice Arief believes that Indonesia has potential in many aspects to become a great country. This would be realized if the people hold fast to the and the ideology and basis of the state—Pancasila. “Indonesia could be what it is today not only because of the will of the Indonesian people, but is also thanks to God Almighty, Allah SWT’s guidance,” he said.

He added that the challenge of the digital era is potential technological disruptions. Therefore, social media could have both positive and negative impacts.

“The advances of digital technology and information as well as social media, the millennials emerged. They are a big challenged for us. Let us not be defeated by technology,” he stressed.

Writer        : Utami Argawati
Editor        : Lulu Anjarsari P.
Translator  : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 3/14/2022 11:04 WIB

Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case of any differences between the English and the Indonesian versions, the Indonesian version will prevail.

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