Their gestures showed alertness and their eyes radiated curiosity. One by one, they knelt and sat nicely. On that day, at CLC Titian Pemenang, they gained new insights from the Deputy Regent of North Lombok, Danny Carter Febrianto Ridawan. There were no barriers between them—Pak Danny made them comfortable by positioning himself as an ‘older brother’ to them. They are the scholarship recipients of Titian in Lombok, known as ‘Titianers’. This is one of the many things Titian facilitates for them, young learners: enhancing their knowledge and broadening their perspectives by bringing them together in various sessions with people from diverse backgrounds, experiences, and expertise.
On this occasion, Pak Danny explained the role of youth in advancing Indonesia, particularly in North Lombok Regency. By sharing a bit about his life journey, having also been a scholarship seeker like the Titianers, until finally entering the political world, Pak Danny provided real inspiration to the Titian scholarship students. Starting a political career at a young age is undoubtedly full of challenges and trials. By maintaining his spirit, Pak Danny proved his abilities and demonstrated that young people can achieve great things through the tasks he performed, from coordinating with various departments, managing government budgets, pursuing better infrastructure, and much more.
He poured motivation with one key idea: if we keep learning diligently and improving our skills as best as we can, we can achieve what we desire, which will ultimately benefit ourselves, others, and even the country, especially in their own area, North Lombok. For the Titianers, these words were indeed very empowering, considering they came from a figure who came from the exact same area as them.
When the Q&A session began, a wave of creative and interesting questions came from the Titianers: how did Pak Danny, as a young Deputy Regent, lead among the older generation? At what age is one allowed to become a regional leader? What is the role of youth in elections, how to handle issues related to infrastructure, especially problems faced by communities in remote areas, how should young people prepare for the demographic bonus, and what are the duties and obstacles of being a Deputy Regent?
Then, the discussion expanded to community issues, from women’s and children’s empowerment to child marriage and stunting problems. Pak Danny answered all the curiosities shown by the Titianers who asked questions or listened to the discussion. Finally, he reminded them that the most vital thing they learned that day was how important it is to keep learning. Focus on the now. Increasing their focus on their goals, amidst the temptations of laziness and the desire to consume excessive entertainment, is something important to do.
There was also an interesting explanation for the Titianers about the types of youth, emphasizing that they should learn to balance intelligence and empathy. “Pak Danny explained how good it is if young people have a balance between the two. As social beings, we must have good relationships or environments so that it will also have a good impact on ourselves and others. From here, we develop our sense of empathy towards young people and it’s a proof for ourselves in being meaningful youth,” explained Wahyuni, a 4th Generation Titianer. Social empathy is also honed in Titian through the Volunteering and Social Project programmes, where Titianers are trained to increase their social empathy through planning activities, setting goals, and building solid teams, in aim to help others.
There is a reason why this session with the Deputy Regent is part of the Titian Lombok Literacy Class. At Titian, we strive to introduce students to various types of literacy that will later be useful in their lives. Titianers who attended and participated in the session with the Deputy Regent gained increased ‘political literacy’—understanding political processes and issues that enable us to play our role as citizens effectively. As ‘zoon politicon’, we have social life with various interests among each other, and ideally, all citizens have an understanding of politics on both a large and small scale.
Slightly similar with political literacy, in a more general scope, civic literacy, or in Indonesian, ‘literasi sipil’, understanding our role to participate in society, is also a term that is not yet too common nor understood in Indonesia, although increasing political and civic literacy is important to be learned from a young age because it is the provision for all citizens to take part and respond to policies. In areas far from big cities, the dissemination of political literacy is full of challenges for various reasons, including the level of education which affects individual knowledge absorption.
According to the Indonesian Presidential Regulation No. 63 of 2020 regarding the ‘Determination of Disadvantaged Areas’, North Lombok is still among the regions that need to catch up. However, with an understanding of the role of youth in developing the region, the Titianers have the opportunity to learn what they can do for their own area, also making decisions and determining attitudes in society, especially to build their own environment. Now, by their own Deputy Regent, the Titianers have been reminded again that for them now, the most important thing is to empower themselves first by focusing on learning, honing their knowledge, and improving their skills. Thank you, Pak Danny Carter, for the valuable knowledge for the Titian students in North Lombok.
References:
https://abclifeliteracy.ca/civic-literacy/
https://jurnal.uns.ac.id/pknprogresif/article/view/26594/18550
https://peraturan.go.id/id/perpres-no-63-tahun-2020
