President Jokowi Talks of Foreign Culture Infiltration
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4 March 2019 13:10 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - During a visit by the SMK (vocational high school) Taruna Nusantara at the Bogor Presidential Palace, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo called for people to appreciate their own culture before fearing foreign culture infiltration.
Jokowi argues that Indonesia’s culture could only be preserved once the fear of foreign culture invasion does not even cross one’s mind. This discussion emerged after a student expressed fear of having Indonesian culture slowly replaced by foreign culture.
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“We are allowed to enjoy K-pop but we also have our own great music genres such as keroncong, dangdut, and Ambon music, and more across Indonesia,” he said in front of the high school students today.
However, he maintained that enjoying foreign culture should be done in the context of comparison-sake.
“If we are aware of our own culture, uniquely Indonesian culture, we need not worry about the infiltration of foreign culture,” Jokowi assured.
AHMAD FAIZ IBNU SANI
