Universitas Pelita Harapan (UPH) becomes the host for “National is Me”, a movement initiated by the Ministry of House Affairs of Indonesia, which was held on February 17, 2020, at the D501 Building, UPH Lippo Village, Karawaci, Tangerang. UPH becomes one of 22 universities in Jakarta and its surrounding that collaborates with the Ministry of House Affairs to encourage millennials participation and passion for nationalism.

This seminar is supported by Radical Nationalism Community (RADIKAL), and Bentang Merah Putih Foundation, through their participation as moderators. They would enrich students with the value of nationalism in order to shape Indonesian’s characteristic with Pancasila personality. The program, with the theme “Cyberspace is Life Engineering”, invited General Commissioner Drs. Dharma Pongrekun, MM., MH., the Deputy Head of Indonesian National Code Cyber Agency (BSSN) as the key speaker.

“Right now Indonesia’s ideals and vision is deviating due to globalization. Our world no is being shaped into a system that homogenizes humans to set them apart from God. As proof, we can see that these days, many people become more and more obsessed with money and what their eyes can see,” said General Commissioner Drs. Dharma.

He also said that this deviation is influenced by the development of technology, including various gadgets, that invades human lives with massive amounts of information. This deviation has reached a point where the noble values of our nation are shifted into a vision of life engineering.

“Without us knowing, our gadgets contain these hypno-electromagnetic elements that trigger the cells in our body to produce cortisol hormones. Cortisol is our body’s main stress hormone that makes humans feel nervous, curious, and many more. Everything has been designed by technology. This condition leads us to stray further from God, to stop believing and relying on God’s power, which is supposed to be the first value of Pancasila, the character of our nation, of Indonesia,” stated the General Commissioner as he reminded students about their nature as human beings.

At the end of the event, General Commissioner Drs. Dharma reminded students to work together against the impacts of cyberspace.
“Don’t be fooled with wrong perceptions, we have to strengthen our faith because the cyberspace wave is very strong and it can wear our faith away. Do not be obsessed with the illusion of numbers, they are temporary. Therefores, be focused on the qualitatives,” he stated.

This program was hosted by Yohana Elizabeth Hardjadinata, Head of Bentang Merah Putih Foundation, as well as the Co-founder of NAKAL, along with Ivan Kabul, TV host and entertainment activist. Some celebrity initiators and NAKAL activists were also present at the event including Yosi Mokalu and Tamara Geraldine. This seminar was attended by UPH Rector, Dr. (Hon) Jonathan L. Parapak, M.Eng.Sc., Vice President of Student Development, Dr. Curtis J. Taylor, lecturers and staff of UPH, as well as a total of 580 students.

This seminar will equip UPH students with mentally and material-wise to do their community service program called the Service Learning Project. In this project, students are going to give counselings in schools located in Baten and its surrounding to instill the values of Pancasila.

This plan was warmly welcomed by Tamara Geraldine as she encouraged UPH students to become the messenger of the fire and work together to build our nation.

“UPH should also be the messenger of the fire so that this anti-radicalism movement can keep going. We have brought this fire here so that UPH can spread this fire to other people,” said Geraldine.

Moreover, the seminar will be a fundamental part for the Executive Student Board of UPH (BEM UPH) to build Nationalism Movement (GANAS), a community that focuses on examining national issues through a discussion forum. GANAS will produce writings and educational videos that hopefully will raise students and public’s awareness about the importance of nationalism.