He made the remarks in response to a survey conducted by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), which has shown that around 10 percent of millennials agree with replacing Pancasila, the nation's foundational ideology, with another ideology.
"If this is not handled carefully and wisely, this could become a thorn in the development of national outlook. It can even be a 'time bomb' that could explode once it gains momentum," Soesatyo said in a written statement received by ANTARA here on Saturday.
The Pancasila Youth Community also published a survey related to Pancasila among youth at the end of May 2020, he noted. The survey showed that around 19.5 percent of youth consider Pancasila irrelevant to their lives, he pointed out.
"Even half of the respondents consider Pancasila as a terminology that they do not really understand," the MPR chairman noted at an online event.
Globalization has played a role in eroding the spirit of nationalism among youth, he added.
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Therefore, Soesatyo said he has urged the youth, especially Indonesian students, to become more actively involved in promoting the national narrative.
He added that this would help cultivate the spirit of nationalism and build character as well as a national outlook.
"Now is the right time for us to prepare the nation's youth to pursue Indonesia's golden age," he remarked.
In Indonesia, millennials, people in the 25-40 age bracket, constitute almost 69 percent, or 131.6 million, of Indonesia's population, according to the 2020 Census data published by Statistics Indonesia (BPS) in January 2021.
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Translator: Putu Savitri, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Suharto
Copyright © ANTARA 2021
