"We (the ministry) always uphold the principles of collaboration, so we cannot work alone in fostering the country's literature. We need communities to work together with us," the ministry's secretary general Suharti remarked at the Literary Night event, held in East Jakarta on Saturday (July 8).
She noted that the ministry's Language Agency has been providing guidance and assistance to literary communities to produce high-quality literary products.
"One of the goals of the ministry's Freedom in Learning curriculum is to adopt project-based learning methods. Consequently, the ministry's Language Agency is producing literary projects, such as poetry musicalization, local language revitalization, reading material writing, and oral literature conservation," Suharti elaborated.
At the Literary Night event, the Language Agency handed over cash assistance totaling more than Rp1 billion (US$66 thousand) to 11 literary communities and one individual.
"Please make the most of this assistance by using it for any activity that can foster and preserve literature," she remarked.
Suharti also drew attention to the rapid development of technology, including the increase in the use of artificial intelligence, saying that such a highly sophisticated technology, however, will not be able to replace the originality of literary writers' works.
"We are witnessing a world where technology is capable of making artistic and rhythmic sentences. However, it will never be able to replace our thoughts and feelings in making literature," she affirmed.
The secretary general then expressed hope that literary events can produce new young literary writers for the sake of regeneration.
On the occasion, she also recited her own poetry entitled Dunia yang Kita Punya (The World We Have) as she encouraged youths to contemplate the world's future.
"I want a world where I can throw a smile at anyone without the fear of being thought crazy," Suharti said in a verse of her poetry.
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Translator: Lintang Budiyanti, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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