"My message is that a great nation is a nation that honors the heroes of the previous generations," President Yudhoyono said at the commemoration of the Pancasila Sanctity Day here on Wednesday.
According to him, showing dignity and respect for the heroes was a form of wisdom that could take Indonesia to a more advanced and prosperous future.
The president also noted that the young generation is Indonesias future leaders.
On the occasion, a choir performed "Our World" and "Autumn Flowers" in front of the president.
The president noted that "Our World" was created in 2010 during the international conference to preserve Indonesias forests. The conference was held in Oslo, Norwegia.
"The song was recorded in Sandhy Sondoros voice. The song also has an English version, titled Save Our World, sung by Jeffrey Pescato of the United States," he said.
The president praised the choir for participating in the ceremony commemorating the "sanctity" of Pancasila, the state ideology.
The commemoration was held in Lubang Buaya, on the outskirts of Jakarta city, where the generals were buried by communist rebels.
The ceremony was also attended by President-elect Joko Widodo and other Indonesian leaders, including Vice-President Boediono and Chairman of the Regional Representative Council (DPD) Irman Gusman.
Irman Gusman read out the five principles of the state ideology, and Sidarto Danusubroto, the speaker of the People Consultative Assembly, read out the preamble of the State Constitution, 1945.
The ceremony commemorating the "sanctity" of Pancasila was attended by the members, elected for the period of 2014-2019, of the House of Representatives and the DPD.
According to Culture and Education Minister Mohammad Nuh, the theme of the commemoration was "Strengthening of Pancasila Values to Improve the Quality of Democracy."
The Education Minister urged the ministries, government agencies, non-governmental agencies, and the Indonesian representatives abroad to organize ceremonies to commemorate the "sanctity" of Pancasila.
Earlier, Mohammad Nuh said that the ideology of radicalism and other similar ideologies really ran contrary to Pancasila, which revered and upheld pluralism.
"Therefore, we have to completely eradicate the ideology and values of radicalism and the like," the minister noted in a written message read out by Mataram Deputy Mayor H. Mohan Roliskana during a memorial service to commemorate the Pancasila Sanctity Day here on Wednesday.
Nuh remarked that one of the phenomena of the globalization era is the exchange of cross-border values between nations, and even between communities or groups of smaller communities.
Among these cross-border values or ideologies is radicalism. People harboring this kind of ideology always consider themselves correct and ignore the basic rights of other people.
"No wonder radicalism and other similar ideologies are contrary to Pancasila," noted the culture and education minister.
Therefore, he emphasized, the ideology of Pancasila should be upheld and strengthened in order to enable the people from diverse religious, ethnic, racial, customary, and cultural backgrounds to co-exist in perfect harmony, peace, and tolerance.
On the other hand, the minister also called on all parties to build a superior, civilized nation, which will be able to demonstrate its character and identity without losing the opportunity and ability to communicate with other nations.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2014
