Indonesian Diversity Serves as Asia’s Strength
YOGYAKARTA, KOMPAS – Indonesia’s diverse ethnicities, cultures and religions, supported by a high level of tolerance, impressed the thousands of participants hailing from 22 Asian countries during Asian Youth Day 2017. The pan-Asian meeting of youth, where participants were able to witness the unique diversity of Indonesia, is hoped to strengthen their collective commitment to achieve peace in both Asia and the world.
Michaela Ruth Gallardo from Hong Kong and Freddie Rodrigues from Timor-Leste represented more than 2,000 Asian Youth Day (AYD) 2017 participants when they delivered a joint statement in front of Vice President Jusuf Kalla, state ministers, bishops, imams and around 18,000 Catholics during AYD 2017’s closing mass at the Air Force Academy’s Dirgantara Field in Yogyakarta on Sunday (6/8/2017).