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| Boy Pradana is one of the speakers in the Lecture Series. (Photo: Haqi PR UMM) |
Asian nations are very rich in diversity. Both ethnicity, culture, religion, race, and language, so awareness and social orientation are needed to describe the phenomenon of multiculturalism. This was stated by Prof. Dr. Albertus Fenanlampir, S.Pd., M.Pd., AIFO, a Professor of Pattimura University, at the seminar on Multiculturalism for the Human Development in the Asian Community. This activity was carried out by the Center for Asian Studies, University of Muhammadiyah Malang (UMM) on Wednesday (19/10) in GKB 4 floor, 9th floor.
Fenanlampir, his nickname, discussed awareness and people-oriented Asian multiculturalism. According to him, the Asian continent is the largest in the world, covers 30% of the earth's land area, 44.58 million square kilometers or about 4.38 times larger than the European continent, and accounts for 30% of the total land area of the earth.
"Besides, Asia is where the world's major religions thrive. Asia became the birthplace of major religions and hundreds of minor religions. For example, Hinduism and Buddhism came from India, Protestant Christianity and Catholic Christianity came from Jerusalem, Kong Hu Chu came from China, and Islam came from Saudi Arabia," he explained.
This diversity will undoubtedly give birth to the community's social interactions from various backgrounds. Interaction and communication occur between people, organizations, and institutions with different cultural backgrounds. He reminded us that difference and diversity are something natural and that every person and nation has its uniqueness.
"Having social awareness and understanding cultural diversity is important. A person's awareness to read, realize and understand the people around him and his environment. This understanding becomes the basis for acting appropriately in the existing situation," he said.
Then he explained about multiculturalism. A multicultural society is a society that is divided into independent parts of a system, and primordial ties relate to each part of the system. For him, Asian culture is very multicultural, and the challenges faced by Asian nations are prone to social disasters.
"On the one hand, cultural diversity in Asia is prone to conflict, which requires concrete solutions to resolve these problems. So the concept of multiculturalism emerged. Multiculturalism is used as a reference for the formation of a peaceful multicultural society because it contains an acknowledgment of the dignity of life with their respective cultures," he explained.
Meanwhile, Pradana Boy ZTF, S.Ag., MA., Ph.D. explained that multiculturalism could be formed from various aspects, including trade, war, and colonialism. This factor mainly brings together ethnic groups in buying and selling goods or services. This is evidenced by the arrival of Arabs and Chinese to the archipelago in the 5th century AD.
The Deputy Dean I of the Faculty of Islamic Religion (FAI) UMM said that the Dutch in Indonesia indirectly formed multiculturalism in the aspect of colonialism. It can be seen from the practice of exile and bringing in foreign workers from East Asian countries and then creating a community or society from various ethnic backgrounds.
Moreover, coupled with the mission of spreading religion, it further widens the meaning of multiculturalism which is not based solely on ethnicity. "Colonialism's mission to extend Christian teachings forms a new aspect of religious diversity. So multiculturalism is not only seen from ethnicity or race, "said this man from Lamongan. (cdr/haq/ros/wil)
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