“Citizen Discussion” Between Jakarta and Luwuk with Video Conference

Collaboration between Institut Leimena and Luwuk Banggai Christian Church (GKLB)

August 18^th, 2011. For the first time, we held a video conference from our office in Jakarta to almost 30 people who came for a “Citizen Discussion” program in Luwuk, Banggai district, Central Sulawesi. The video conference was done with simple technology and internet connection. It was a collaboration between the Institut Leimena and the Luwuk Banggai Christian Church (GKLB), supported by the computer lab facility at the GKLB Christian High School in Luwuk. The speakers in Jakarta were Leimena President Jakob Tobing and Director of CePA (Center for Policy Analysis) Budi H. Setiamarga. Those who participated in Luwuk included Rev. Made Subagiarta (GKLB Synod Secretary), Rudi Budaya (Principal of GKLB Christian High School), Rev. Jeri Moningka (Head of Government Agency for Christian Community), Rev. Vira Tandiawan (GKLB church discipleship program),other GKLB pastors, church youth activists, high school teachers, and students.

This 2.5 hour program was moderated by Rev. Junus Labotano (leader of Sintuwu Maroso Kompi congregation) in Luwuk and Budi H. Setiamarga in Jakarta. After brief introduction, participants in Luwuk discussed about national culture in small groups. Discussion material was based on Jakob Tobing’s article, “Indonesian Culture According to the Constitution: Exposition of Article 32 of the 1945 Constitution”. In this discussion, they learned that after the amendment to the Constitution, now the Article 32 means that “the development of Indonesian culture is the responsibility of the State, not just the government, but also the people. The amendment also underlines the need to live out the identity of Indonesia as embodied in the motto “Bhinneka Tunggal Ika” (Unity in Diversity). Unity will always co-exist with Diversity.” (Citizen Discussion materials in Bahasa Indonesia are available for free download at: http://www.leimena.org/id/page/v/119/unduh-dan-cetak-materi).

The program continued with face-to-face dialogue over the internet video call. Each group in Luwuk shared their discussion summaries to Jakarta. Then in turn Jakob Tobing gave his response to them. The video conference made the discussion more interactive and helped the people in Luwuk to understand better their significant role as the citizens of Indonesia in building our national culture.

Considering the geography of Indonesia, the use of simple and low-cost communication technology like this is a significant step to overcome the distance barrier for our Civic Education and Citizen Discussion programs. With this, our civic education program can reach more fellow citizens across the country, so that more people can understand how to participate in determining the fate of our nation.